Vitalism

Vitalism (noun)

1. The theory or doctrine that life processes arise from or contain a nonmaterial vital principle and cannot be explained entirely as physical and chemical phenomena.

1. In biology, the doctrine that ascribes all the functions of an organism to a vital principle distinct from chemical and other physical forces.

1. The doctrine that all the functions of a living organism are due to an unknown vital principle distinct from all chemical and physical forces.