Zoism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A belief system proposing that life force or soul animates all living beings and possibly the universe itself, often emphasizing vitality and spiritual energy as fundamental to existence
2. The doctrine or philosophy asserting that life or vital force is the primary principle underlying living things, sometimes viewed as a form of animism or vitalism that attributes a spiritual essence to nature
3. A concept in metaphysics or religion which holds that life energy suffuses organisms and, in some interpretations, all matter, suggesting a unifying vitality that defines livingness and spiritual presence

Etymology: "Zoism" is built from Ancient Greek "zōḗ," meaning "life," with the suffix "-ism," which turns a root into a doctrine, system, or belief. The result names a doctrine centred on life itself: the idea that a vital force runs through living things and, in some versions, through all matter. The Greek root is a good example of how close English vocabulary sits to ancient terms. "Zōḗ" was the everyday word for life, as opposed to "bios," which referred more to a lifetime or a way of living. English has long drawn on it in words like "zoology" and "azoic," and "zoism" follows the same pattern, pairing the root with a suffix that signals a philosophical position rather than a biological study.

Synonyms: vitalism, animism, life force theory, biocentrism, organicism

Antonyms: mechanism, materialism, determinism, physicalism, reductionism