[Cf. prec. and F. vitaliste.] An advocate of or believer in vitalism. Also in recent use as adj., = next.
1849. Morning Chron., 15 Feb., 8/1. He alluded to the conflicting theories of the vitalists, solidists, and humeralists, in reference to the causes which influence and determine the operations and functions of the human frame and the springs of life.
1860. Laycock, Mind & Brain, I. Contents p. xviii. Conflicting theories of Life and Mind resulting from the Dogmas of the Vitalists.
1870. Maudsley, Body & Mind, 169. The obvious refuge of the vitalist is to the facts that it is impossible now to evolve life artificially out of any combination of physical and chemical forces [etc.].
1884. Pop. Sci. Monthly, XXIV. 763. Cuvier … was a vitalist, and thought the vital properties of the body a kind of entity.
