(philosophy, especially Kantianism) Of or pertaining to the noumenon or the realm of things as they are in themselves.
1878, James Sully, "The Question of Visual Perception in Germany," Mind, vol. 3, no. 10, p. 193,We may here distinguish between two kinds of reality, phenomenal or relative, and noumenal or absolute.
2003, Jay Garfield and Graham Priest, "NÄgÄrjuna and the Limits of Thought," Philosophy East and West, vol. 53, no. 1, p. 3,When Kant says that it is impossible to know anything about, or apply any categories to, the noumenal realm, he would seem to be doing just what cannot be done.
