The noumenon is the object of rational and not sensible knowledge.
The etymology of noumenon takes us to the Greek nooumenon , which translates as “thought thing.” The term is used within the framework of philosophy to refer to what is the object of rational knowledge and not sensible knowledge .
non-phenomenal object
The notion appears in the philosophical developments of the German Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). The noumenon is a non-phenomenal object : it is part of the orbit of intellectual intuition because it is known through reason . The phenomenal, on the other hand, arises from the sensible (the senses).
Kant points out that a phenomenon is an object that appears and that can be known through sensible intuition . The noumenon is a correlate of the object that goes beyond its link with sensitivity and is something uniquely intelligible.
That is why the idea of noumenon is also used to name the thing itself . It is a hypothetical reality that transcends the realm of human knowledge, existing independently of any kind of representation .
Continuing with Kantian philosophy, he postulates that the noumenon cannot be recognized by sensible intuition, but it can be recognized by intellectual intuition. Knowledge , in this framework, is limited to phenomena, while noumena mark the limit of what can be known. In other words, there is no knowledge of things in themselves.
The problem of the noumenon
It is interesting to mention, finally, that noumenon is considered a problematic concept : its objective reality cannot be known, it is interconnected with other knowledge and does not entail contradiction .
This type of cognition problems is quite common and, in fact, is inevitable because human beings are not merely intellectual entities that see the outside world in the same way, but rather we lead subjective lives, with our own points of view. There are concepts that, at least for a time, human knowledge considers irrefutable. Others, however, cannot be measured or compared with a reference , but belong to another plane, beyond accuracy, but also sensitivity. Such is the case of the noumenon.
Traditional ontology and German idealism
Within philosophy we find ontology , which is also known by the name of general metaphysics . It is the study of what exists and the relationships that are perceived between the actions and the individuals who execute them or between different entities . Within this field, particularly traditional ontology, we know that the philosopher Plato considered that noumena are those things that reason can access.
Depending on the point of view, the noumenon can be intelligible or unintelligible.
In other words, what for Kant has a logical and rational structure, that is, what is supposedly intelligible, in this case is the opposite, the "unintelligible." However, speaking in terms more appropriate to the theoretical context, we should call it "transintelligible." Purely sensible things and intelligible things are opposed at this point, but it is still something that can be experienced , although what is foreign to experience is also taken into account. The noumenon is neither at the inaccessible end of things nor at the phenomenal end, but is between the two.
German idealism has another point of view. According to his philosophy, consciousness can be penetrated by the absolute , just as the absolute can be, in itself, consciousness. Returning to Kant's theory, the noumenon cannot be known or approached by our mind, it is beyond the knowledge possible for our species, our experiences as rational beings, any notion of space and time.