Animism vs. Animatism

Animismnoun

A belief that spirits inhabit some or all classes of natural objects or phenomena.

Animismnoun

A belief that an immaterial force animates the universe.

Animismnoun

(dated) A doctrine that animal life is produced by an immaterial spirit.

Animismnoun

The doctrine, taught by Stahl, that the soul is the proper principle of life and development in the body.

Animismnoun

The belief that inanimate objects and the phenomena of nature are endowed with personal life or a living soul; also, in an extended sense, the belief in the existence of soul or spirit apart from matter.

Animismnoun

the doctrine that all natural objects and the universe itself have souls;

Animism

Animism (from Latin: anima, 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and perhaps even words—as animated and alive.

Animatismnoun

(anthropology) The belief that everything is pervaded with a life-force giving each inanimate object a consciousness or personality, but not a soul as in animism.

Animatismnoun

the attribution of consciousness and personality to natural phenomena such as thunderstorms and earthquakes and to objects such as plants and stones

Animatism

Animatism is a term coined by British anthropologist Robert Marett in the context of his teleological theory of the evolution of religion. It refers to .