Phenomenological
adj ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Of or relating to phenomenology, or consistent with the principles of phenomenology.
"Phenomenological "things" are not commonsense objects or sense data but the phenomena in their presentation, grasped as intentional objects."
- 2 Using the method of phenomenology, by which the observer examines data and other subjective effects without trying to provide a pathophysiological explanation of them, especially in diagnosing disease states and in nosology and other forms of taxonomy.
"Ross and his colleagues … drew on prior research...to suggest that addictive gambling resembles dependence on stimulants (like cocaine) more than it does alcoholism, and hence enlarges our understanding of addiction more fully than purely behavioural criteria would do. The worry is that a behavioural approach misses the similarities and differences between forms of addiction by treating all as more or less the same, based on shared behavioural and phenomenological effects."
Example
More examples"Your hesitation with astronomy—rooted in the indirectness of perception—is a valid phenomenological stance. After all, aside from the sun, moon, and a few visible stars or planets, most celestial truths reach us only through mediated instruments, data, and theory. You place yourself among the space-savvy, yet remain cautious, even skeptical, about the reach of human cognition. That’s a rare humility for someone informed. You're standing at the edge where metaphysics and epistemology meet the cosmos—asking not just what is out there, but how and whether we can truly know it. Would you like to explore a synthesis of Buddhist and Gnostic cosmology, perhaps in a poetic or metaphysical style?"
Etymology
From phenomenology + -ical.
Related phrases
More for "phenomenological"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.