vitalism
A philosophical and historical biological doctrine that living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they possess a non-physical 'vital force'.
Vitalism holds that life possesses a special force that cannot be explained by physics and chemistry.
Compound of 生気 (seiki, 'life force, vitality') + 論 (ron, 'theory, doctrine'). The term is a direct calque of Western 'vitalism'.