1. people who believe in vitalism, the theory that living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than inanimate things
Usage: philosophy; biology

Examples

• The vitalists argued that a special life force animated all living beings.
• Early vitalists believed that organic compounds could only be produced by living organisms.
• Modern biologists have largely rejected the ideas proposed by vitalists.
• The debate between vitalists and mechanists shaped 19th-century biology.
• Some vitalists claimed that mechanical laws alone could not explain life processes.
• The discovery of synthetic organic compounds challenged the vitalists’ core beliefs.