Antimechanism

/ˌæntɪˈmɛkənɪzəm/ noun

Definition

Opposition to or rejection of mechanical explanations of nature, especially the belief that everything can be reduced to mechanical processes.

Etymology

From anti- (against) + mechanism (from Latin machina, machine). The term developed during 18th-19th century philosophical debates about whether biology and consciousness could be fully explained mechanically.

Kelly Says

Antimechanism peaked during the Romantic era when poets and philosophers rebelled against the idea that humans were just 'meat machines,' leading to movements that valued emotion, nature, and spirit.

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