Mittefüüsilise

Mittefüüsilise is an Estonian term meaning non-physical or immaterial. In philosophy, cognitive science, and related fields, it is used to describe phenomena, properties, or substances that are not composed of matter or are not reducible to physical processes. The term functions as an umbrella for aspects considered outside the scope of the physical sciences.

Common examples discussed under mittefüüsilise include mental states such as thoughts, feelings, and conscious experience, as well as abstract objects like numbers, propositions, or logical truths. In religious and spiritual contexts, it may refer to soul, spirit, or other non-material realities. The term is often employed in debates over the nature of consciousness and the mind–body problem.

In philosophy of mind, two broad positions are frequently contrasted. Physicalism (or materialism) holds that all phenomena, including mental states, ultimately reduce to physical processes. Non-physicalist or dualist theories maintain that some aspects of reality—such as mind or certain experiences—are not physical in nature. Other approaches, such as property dualism or emergentism, attempt to bridge the gap by positing non-physical properties or emergent phenomena that arise from physical substrates.

Critics of non-physical explanations argue that non-physical entities are difficult to test, verify, or integrate with a scientific worldview, and that many alleged non-physical phenomena may ultimately be accounted for by physical explanations. Proponents counter that certain features of consciousness, experience, or values resist straightforward physical reduction.

In everyday use, mittefüüsilise appears in discussions of metaphysics, philosophy of mind, ethics, and theology, where distinctions between physical and non-physical aspects of reality are central.