Elsephysical

Elsephysical is a neologism used to describe domains or phenomena that lie beyond conventional physical explanation. The term is encountered in philosophical discourse, speculative fiction, and critical theory rather than in standard physics, and it signals an attempt to articulate what remains unexplained by physicalism. The word blends 'else', indicating other or beyond, with 'physical', pointing to matter and energy, to denote non-physical realms, properties, or explanations.

Usage and scope: There is no single, formal definition of elsephysical. In philosophy, elsephysical elements may refer to non-physical properties such as conscious experience or intentionality, or to limits of physicalist accounts of reality. In metaphysics and theories of science, it can indicate entities or processes that are real but not reducible to physical description, including abstract objects, emergent phenomena, or hypothetical ontologies proposed in thought experiments and fiction. In literature and media, elsephysical is used to imagine alternative physical laws, ontologies, or realities that coexist with the familiar physical world.

Reception and critique: Scholars note that elsephysical is a vague umbrella term whose boundaries are ill-defined, which can hinder precise argumentation. Proponents argue that it helps separate explanatory domains from speculative or metaphysical claims, while critics warn that the lack of definitional clarity risks conflating genuine non-physical discussions with supernatural or fictional concepts. See also non-physical properties, qualia, emergentism, dualism.