Vitalism

The largely antiquated belief that life is not reducible to physical mechanisms and requires an immaterial “vital spark” (or “elan vital”) to be embodied within a physical subject.

Usage:

• From a vitalist perspective, a computer could never be alive or conscious unless it is infused with a “vital spark” or soul.
• Related to dualism, which does not explicitly require a “vital spark” and speaks on the nature of consciousness rather than life itself, but does consider the conscious mind to be of a fundamentally distinct nature not reliant upon a physical substrate.