phenomenology

noun

phe·​nom·​e·​nol·​o·​gy fi-ˌnä-mə-ˈnä-lə-jē 

plural phenomenologies

1

: the study of the development of human consciousness and self-awareness as a preface to or a part of philosophy

2

a(1)

: a philosophical movement that describes the formal structure of the objects of awareness and of awareness itself in abstraction from any claims concerning existence

(2)

: the typological classification of a class of phenomena

the phenomenology of religion

b

: an analysis produced by phenomenological investigation

phenomenologist

fi-ˌnä-mə-ˈnä-lə-jist 

noun

Examples of phenomenology in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The phenomenology of evil may have been Dolan's biggest preoccupation. —Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 19 Mar. 2025

Searls seeks a reset, and finds it in phenomenology. —Max Norman, The New Yorker, 7 Dec. 2024

Serra was less interested in the object itself than in tectonics and the phenomenology of space. —Barry Schwabsky, Artforum, 1 Dec. 2024

Psychedelic Experience - Revealing The Mind By Aidan Lyon Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes, a philosopher of mind and metaphysics at the University of Exeter, in the U.K., agrees with Osmond that a trip should be defined by phenomenology, not pharmacology. —Shayla Love, The Atlantic, 20 Oct. 2024

Studies that desire to reach A > 14 involve additional phenomenology and insightful theoretical approximations. —Aaron Shattuck, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2024

So the real problem is about connecting mechanisms in the brain to these kinds of properties of phenomenology. —Steven Strogatz, Quanta Magazine, 31 May 2023

As our knowledge improves, less of the human mind will appear mysterious, and more of its phenomenology will be associated with the physical body, in the same way that the charm of the Mona Lisa can be traced back to the specific paint marks left by da Vinci’s brush on the canvas. —Avi Loeb, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2020

This is the phenomenology of time, or what neuroscientists call time consciousness. —Conor Feehly, Discover Magazine, 3 Nov. 2021

Word History

Etymology

German Phänomenologie, from Phänomenon phenomenon + -logie -logy

First Known Use

circa 1797, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for phenomenology

• ethylenediamine
• idiosyncrasy
• nanotechnology
• phenylenediamine
• abc
• absentee
• addressee
• adoptee
• agouti
• allottee
• amphorae
• amputee

Medical Definition

phenomenology

noun

phe·​nom·​e·​nol·​o·​gy fi-ˌnäm-ə-ˈnäl-ə-jē 

plural phenomenologies

: the way in which one perceives and interprets events and one's relationship to them in contrast both to one's objective responses to stimuli and to any inferred unconscious motivation for one's behavior

also : a psychology based on the theory that phenomenology determines behavior

phenomenological

fi-ˌnäm-ən-ᵊl-ˈäj-i-kəl 

adjective