nonphysical

Nonphysical refers to phenomena, properties, or entities that do not have physical form or do not exist in the physical domain. It is used across philosophy, cognitive science, and everyday discourse to distinguish what is not accessible by spatial measurement, mass, or energy from the physical counterparts. In philosophy, nonphysical often describes mind-related phenomena such as consciousness, thoughts, feelings, and intentions, as opposed to physical states of the brain. Debates surrounding nonphysicality center on the mind–body problem: whether mental states are reducible to physical processes or whether nonphysical properties actually exist. Physicalists argue that all phenomena have physical explanations and may reduce to brain states; dualists argue that nonphysical minds or souls interact with the body, while panpsychists or property dualists propose different ways to account for nonphysical features.

In the realm of mathematics and logic, many thinkers describe numbers, sets, and other abstract objects as nonphysical or non-spatial, existing outside space and time in a Platonic sense. Some philosophers challenge this by claiming such objects are linguistic or conceptual constructions. In ordinary usage, nonphysical can describe intangible assets such as information, value, or emotions, although these often depend on physical carriers (data storage, sensory experience). The term is often contrasted with physical, material, or tangible.

Overall, nonphysical is a broad and context-dependent label for things not readily situated in the material world, covering recursive and abstract ideas as well as subjective experiences that resist direct physical description.