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Foundations

Empiricism Rationalism Naturalism Materialism

Method

Scientific method Critical thinking A priori anda posteriori Evidence Falsifiability Reproducibility

Conclusions

Theory Law Science v -t -e

Philosophical naturalism is the doctrine that the natural world is all there is — in other words, that the supernatural is by definition impossible, since whatever is shown to exist (viaaffecting the natural world) is clearlypart of that same natural world.^{[note 1]}

Basically all scientists (and a vast majority of modern philosophers) adhere to some version of naturalism, which iswhy reference tosupernatural ormiraculous effects or forces is frowned upon in academia.^{[note 2]}

Metaphysical or methodological?[edit]

Two refinements of the term "naturalism" that are of use for any rationalist to know aremethodological naturalism (on the one hand) andmetaphysical naturalism (on the other).^{[note 3]}

Science is itself a process based onmethodological naturalism, i.e. treating the world as ifmetaphysical naturalism was the case, butwithout actually taking a stand on philosophical matters (outside ofmethod).^{[note 4]}

Metaphysical naturalism, on the other hand, is what it means to extend scientific principles all the way into the farthest reaches of philosophy. Scouting future territory for the natural sciences to conduct research in (and defending naturalism generally), metaphysical naturalism is whatRichard Carrier simply describes as "science with less data",^[1] operatingin anticipation of scientific data where possible. This approach signifies the single leastwoo-prone way in which to engage any given speculatory topic, aside from the philosophically agnostic view of methodological naturalism.

Metaphysical naturalism is more or less a basic precept of all modernanalytic philosophy, which was itself formed partially in protest of thecenturies of woo that had accreted in philosophy (notablyGerman idealism) prior to the explosive triumph of modern science in the last 150 years or so.

Strict adherence tomethodological naturalism createsa theoretical space in which positions likeNOMA may be compatibly held by those who chose to do so.Methodological naturalism is, as such, the "minimum position" to which science is reducible^{[note 5]} — and itstill entailsnot giving the time of day towoo-meistry.

In that context,metaphysical naturalism simply means "closing" said NOMA/gaps space by taking the fight all the way againsttheology andaccommodationism.^{[note 6]}

Origins in methodological naturalism[edit]

Philosophical naturalism is arguably the logical end-result ofmethodological naturalism. Methodological naturalism accepts that there is no way to contact, detect, or otherwiseempirically observe the supernatural. In consequence, methodological naturalists regard thescientific method as the best way to determine thetruth aboutreality. Because supernatural, intelligent forces — if they exist — are unpredictable and hence unrepeatable,^{[note 7]} naturalists reject the possibility of supernatural ormagical intervention in the physical world.

Philosophical naturalists take these beliefs one step further and reject the existence of the supernatural altogether, citing the utter lack of empirical evidence. Because of the absence of scientific evidence backing upreligion, most philosophical naturalists are alsoatheists (or at mostdeists).

Opposition by religion[edit]

Arrayed against philosophical naturalism are religious schools of thought which argue for the existence of thesupernatural alongside the natural. In order to compete with science, they have createdpseudoscientific theories such asintelligent design which supposedly prove supernatural intervention in natural phenomena. However, they also assert that the supernatural is somehowimmune to science. These theories, therefore, work about as well ascargo cults.

Do not equate with[edit]

Although these are related to naturalism, there are differences:

Materialism[edit]

All things are composed of matter and allemergent phenomena (such as thoughts) are the result of material interactions.

Physicalism[edit]

The only things are those subject to the laws ofphysics.

Scientism[edit]

All that can be known is what science tells us.

Nominalism[edit]

Abstract objects exist as predicates, not universals (as opposed toPlatonism).

See also[edit]

• Logical positivism
• Methodological naturalism

External links[edit]

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry ofnaturalism
• Barbara Forrest.Methodological Naturalism and Philosophical Naturalism: Clarifying the Connection.Philo, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Fall-Winter 2000), pp. 7-29.

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• Philosophy of science
• Philosophy
• Science

• Articles with unsourced statements