epiphenomenalism
/ˌɛ.pi.fəˌnɑ.mə.nəˈlɪ.zəm/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.12 in modern English
27
Scrabble Score
16
Letters
6
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The doctrine that consciousness, mental states and processes are simply by-products of physiological events in the brain or nervous system and cannot themselves cause anything, whether material or immaterial.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "In the eyes of epiphenomenalism, anger does not cause one to shout nor does grief cause one to cry; the feelings are by-products of the underlying physical causes and nothing more."
- "The textbook account of epiphenomenalism goes something like this. Although our thoughts, desires, and other mental states seem to affect what happens in the world, by bringing about changes in our behavior or subsequent mental states, this is only an appearance, cast off by the real physical sequence of cause and effect that underlies our mental life."
- "More intriguing is epiphenomenalism. Just as the shadow of a running horse appears to run along with it but plays no causal role in the running, consciousness may simply accompany certain brain events but not itself have a function."
- "According to epiphenomenalism, physical properties of the brain cause non-physical properties of the brain, but not vice versa."
- "The theory of emergent evolution has been largely developed as a corrective of mechanistic theories with their attendant psycho-physical dualisms and epiphenomenalisms."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi Proto-Hellenic *epí Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí) Ancient Greek ἐπῐ- (epĭ-)der. English epi- Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂nyéti Proto-Hellenic *pʰáňňō Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō) Ancient Greek φαινόμενον (phainómenon)bor. Late Latin phaenomenonder. English phenomenon Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al English -al ▲ Ancient Greek φαινόμενον (phainómenon)bor. French phénomène ▲ Old French -al Middle French -al French -al French phénoménalbor. English phenomenal English epiphenomenal Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English epiphenomenalism From epiphenomenal + -ism. Coined by English psychologist James Ward in 1899.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌɛ.pi.fəˌnɑ.mə.nəˈlɪ.zəm/
- British English: /ˌɛ.pi.fəˌnɒ.mə.nəˈlɪ.zəm/