Phenomenon
A phenomenon (pl.: phenomena), sometimes spelled phaenomenon, is an
Common usage
In popular usage, a phenomenon often refers to an extraordinary, unusual or notable event. According to the Dictionary of Visual Discourse:[2]
In ordinary language 'phenomenon/phenomena' refer to any occurrence worthy of note and investigation, typically an untoward or unusual event, person or fact that is of special significance or otherwise notable.
Philosophy
In modern philosophical use, the term phenomena means things as they are experienced through the senses and processed by the mind as distinct from things in and of themselves (
Science
In natural sciences, a phenomenon is an observable happening or event. Often, this term is used without considering the causes of a particular event. Example of a physical phenomenon is an observable phenomenon of the lunar orbit or the phenomenon of oscillations of a pendulum.[4]
A mechanical phenomenon is a physical phenomenon associated with the
.Sociology
Group phenomena concern the behavior of a particular group of individual entities, usually organisms and most especially people. The behavior of individuals often changes in a group setting in various ways, and a group may have its own behaviors not possible for an individual because of the herd mentality.
Social phenomena apply especially to organisms and people in that subjective states are implicit in the term. Attitudes and events particular to a group may have effects beyond the group, and either be adapted by the larger society, or seen as aberrant, being punished or shunned.
See also
- Awareness
- Condition of possibility
- Essence
- Electrical phenomena
- Experience
- Intuition
- List of cycles
- List of effects
- List of electrical phenomena
- List of geological phenomena
- List of Internet phenomena
- List of natural phenomena
- List of severe weather phenomena
- List of syntactic phenomena
- Observation
- Optical phenomena
References
- ^ "Phenomenon". The Columbia Encyclopedia. 2008.
- ^ a b "Phenomenon/Phenomena". Dictionary of Visual Discourse: A Dialectical Lexicon of Terms. 2011.
- ^ Kant, Immanuel. [1770] 2019. On the Form and Principles of the Sensible and Intelligible World, translated by W. J. Eckoff (1894). – via Wikisource.
- ^ a b Bernstein, Jeremy (1996). A Theory for Everything. New York: Copernicus.
- ^ "Mechanical Phenomenon". AudioEnglish.org. Tudorancea Media Network. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
External links
- The dictionary definition of phenomenon at Wiktionary
- Quotations related to Phenomenon at Wikiquote
- Media related to Phenomena at Wikimedia Commons