1. Plural of phenomenalism; philosophical doctrines holding that physical objects or reality are reducible to or knowable only through phenomena (appearances or sense experiences).
Usage: philosophy; formal; academic

Examples

• Various phenomenalisms emerged in 20th-century philosophy as thinkers debated the nature of perception and reality.
• Critics of phenomenalisms argue that reducing objects to mere appearances ignores their independent existence.
• The professor compared different phenomenalisms in her lecture on epistemology.
• Phenomenalisms challenge our intuition that objects exist independently of observation.
• Some phenomenalisms suggest that all knowledge derives exclusively from sensory experience.