[vahyt-l-iz-uh
m] 
| 1. | the doctrine that phenomena are only partly controlled by mechanical forces, and are in some measure self-determining. Compare dynamism (def. 1), mechanism (def. 8). |
| 2. | Biology. a doctrine that ascribes the functions of a living organism to a vital principle distinct from chemical and physical forces. |
| vi·tal·ism (vīt'l-ĭz'əm) n. 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. vi'tal·ist adj. & n., vi'tal·is'tic adj. |