As defined by philosopher Paul Draper, naturalism is "the hypothesis that the natural world is a closed system" in the sense that "nothing that is not a part of the natural world affects it." More simply, it is the denial of the existence of supernatural causes. In rejecting the reality of supernatural events, forces, or entities, naturalism is the antithesis of supernaturalism.
As a substantial view about the nature of reality, it is often called metaphysical naturalism, philosophical naturalism, or ontological naturalism to distinguish it from a related methodological principle. Methodological naturalism, by contrast, is the principle that science and history should presume that all causes are natural causes solely for the purpose of promoting successful investigation. The idea behind this principle is that natural causes can be investigated directly through scientific method, whereas supernatural causes cannot, and hence presuming that an event has a supernatural cause for methodological purposes halts further investigation. For instance, if a disease is caused by microbes, we can learn more about how microbes interact with the body and how the immune system can be activated to destroy them, or how the transmission of microbes can be contained. But if a disease is caused by demons, we can learn nothing more about how to stop it, as demons are said to be supernatural beings unconstrained by the laws of nature (unlike natural causes).
In utilizing methodological naturalism, science and history do not assume a priori that, as a matter of fact, supernatural causes don't really exist. There is no conceptual conflict between practicing science or history and believing in the supernatural. However, as several of our authors argue below (e.g., Augustine, Fales, Forrest, and Oppy), methodological naturalism would not be as stunningly successful as it has in fact been if metaphysical naturalism were false. Thus the de facto success of methodological naturalism provides strong empirical evidence that metaphysical naturalism is probably true.
A family of theistic arguments contends that the human ability to reason is to be expected under theism, but is surprising under metaphysical naturalism, and thus provides evidence favoring theism over naturalism. One common line of argument is that unguided evolution favors traits that aid in survival and reproduction, rather than traits conducive to discovering the truth. Thus, evolutionary naturalism provides us with no reason to expect our cognitive faculties to be reliable, whereas theism does provide us with reason to believe that God would have created human beings with cognitive faculties aimed at discovering the truth. Several naturalists have responded with arguments that there is in fact significant survival and reproductive value in having accurate cognitive faculties, but in this paper Aron Lucas takes a different tact. Namely, Lucas argues that even if the general fact that human beings can reason favors theism over naturalism, nevertheless the more specific fact that human reasoning suffers from a variety of cognitive biases favors naturalism over theism. If this is right, then arguments from reason can only be deemed successful by understating the full extent of our knowledge concerning human reasoning, thereby committing what Paul Draper has called the fallacy of understated evidence. After fully outlining the available data concerning human reasoning, Lucas concludes that the existence of human cognitive biases does not merely neutralize the evidential significance of the human ability to reason, but in fact overpowers it, tipping the scales in favor of naturalism (all else held equal).
This is a rebuttal of Rea's claim that naturalism "is without rational foundation." This essay shows that adopting the "research program" of basic empiricism is universally appealing, and since naturalism as a "worldview" follows from adopting basic empiricism and applying it to the facts of the world, naturalism has a rational foundation. Rea's conclusion that naturalism must abandon materialism and realism about material objects and other minds because naturalism cannot "discover" intrinsic modal properties is also disproved.
In the first part of this essay Augustine discusses what naturalism entails for one's ontology, considers various ideas about how to define the categories "natural" and "nonnatural," and develops criteria for identifying a potentially supernatural event. In part 2 he presents a persuasive empirical case for naturalism based on the lack of uncontroversial evidence for any potential instances of supernatural causation, particularly in our modern scientific account of the history of the universe and in modern parapsychological research.
A brief essay explaining the mission of the Internet Infidels, especially our focus on Metaphysical Naturalism. Includes a reading list of books on Naturalism and a discussion of our values and how the Secular Web is fulfilling its mission.
Lowder argues that the physical dependence of minds upon the brain, along with the argument from evil, can be used to construct an empirical case for metaphysical naturalism.
In the closing chapter of Warrant and Proper Function Alvin Plantinga claims that the combination of naturalism and evolutionary theory is epistemologically self-defeating. As Robbins points out, however, Plantinga's argument only applies those who hold a "generically Cartesian" picture of the mind, not to those who hold a "generically pragmatist" view of mind. What Plantinga has shown to be self-defeating, if anything, is the generically Cartesian view of our minds. While generic Cartesianism generates the problem of knowledge of the external world, the generically pragmatist view of mind dissolves it.
This is a critical rebuttal to Mark Steiner's book The Applicability of Mathematics as a Philosophical Problem (1998). Steiner argues that naturalism appears to be false because nature is fundamentally mathematical. Carrier argues otherwise.
The Great Debate, God or Blind Nature? Philosophers Debate the Evidence, aims to bring together nine distinguished philosophers in a series of four debates, each with a different focus on evidence for and against naturalism and theism. The first debate addresses evidence concerning the nature of the mind and the will as it relates to the truth of naturalism and theism. The second debate introduces an argument from evil informed by evolutionary biology and considers whether evolutionary naturalism is self-defeating. The third debate appeals to the physical sciences, alternatively providing a cosmological argument against theism on the one hand and considering design arguments against naturalism on the other. The final debate revolves around why, if God exists, he remains hidden from so many people, and whether we should believe in God for practical reasons even in the absence of compelling evidence for his existence.
Forrest argues that philosophical (or metaphysical) naturalism is supported by (1) the demonstrated success of methodological naturalism; (2) the massive amount of knowledge gained by methodological naturalism; (3) the lack of a method or epistemology for knowing the supernatural; and (4) the subsequent lack of evidence for the supernatural.
Orthodox rabbi Moshe Averick's Nonsense of a High Order: The Confused World of Modern Atheism is in many ways typical of that niche of recent popular books that attack modern "atheism." The errors that plague Averick's own thinking are often found in other authors of similar works. For example, Averick repeatedly makes assertions without providing any arguments to back them up, fails to engage relevant research on the issues that he touches on, and misrepresents the views of his opponents. He also spills a great deal of ink critiquing idiosyncratic views of his opponents as if they were typical of nontheists as a whole, uncharitably attaches false meanings to his opponents' statements, and takes their words out of context. He both mischaracterizes how science is done and twists cherry-picked scientific findings to create the appearance that they support his own religiously informed positions. Projecting his own unwillingness "to consider anything that presents a challenge to his dearly held belief system" on to his opponents, Averick steadfastly advocates the existence of spirits and their frequent interaction with our world, that human minds involve a spiritual component, and that the Supreme Spirit sustaining the physical world has handed down rules for us to follow, dismissing naturalistic accounts of mind, meaning, and morality for the flimsiest of reasons.
Kirby explains what naturalism means to him and why he is a naturalist.
In Chapter 12 of Warrant and Proper Function, Alvin Plantinga constructs two arguments against naturalistic evolution, suggesting that (unlike traditional theism) it is self-defeating. Both arguments hinge on the idea that naturalistic evolution cannot account for the reliability of human cognitive faculties. Fitelson and Sober conclude that neither theism or naturalism has an answer to hyperbolic doubt, as neither can construct a non-question-begging argument that refutes global skepticism.
This thesis examines various attempts to construe theism as an explanatory hypothesis and to defend it with arguments similar to those employed in the confirmation of scientific hypotheses. It is the aim of this work to show that such a construal fails to confirm theism and in actuality leads to its disconfirmation.
Both the teachings of old time and Jesus' new teachings are predicated on the same profoundly mistaken views of human nature, lodged in an egregiously mistaken mythology, a mythology of enormous importance for us because it is one of the wellsprings of Western culture.
Elsberry argues that scientific method excludes appeals to supernatural causation because naturalism is a corollary to the scientific presumption that the universe is comprehensible. Even if supernatural causation occurs, the presumption of naturalism is valuable because naturalistic explanations are often correct and "are the only known variety [of explanations] that produce an increase in scientific comprehension."
In Tower of Babel, Robert T. Pennock faults the new creationists for failing to realize that science is committed--not to ontological naturalism (the view that only natural processes or events exist)--but rather to methodological naturalism (a position which, although it does not deny the possibility of the existence of the supernatural, assumes for the sake of inquiry that it does not exist). Martin considers how one can reject ontological naturalism while justifying methodological naturalism as an appropriate stance in the context of science.
Our modern civilization depends totally for its existence and future survival on the methods and fruits of science, naturalism is the philosophy that science created and that science now follows with such success, yet the great majority of humans believe in the antithesis of naturalism--supernaturalism. This paper proposes to show that naturalism is essential to the success of scientific understanding, and it examines and criticizes the claims of pseudoscientists and theistic philosophers that science should employ supernatural explanations as part of its normal practice.
Paper presented at a conference on "Naturalism, Theism and the Scientific Enterprise," March 20-23, 1997, at the University of Texas, Austin. Pennock disputes the soundness of Phillip Johnson's proposal for "Theistic Science" in this detailed paper, which expands and draws on material from Pennock's book Tower of Babel: The Evidence Against the New Creationism.
The problems with Ronald Nash's defense of Christian theism over naturalism in the book In Defense of Miracles are examined, which includes discussion of what naturalists "must" believe and why they really believe what they do, and why the Argument from Reason (and the similar Transcendental Argument) does not refute naturalism.
The editors of this collection claim that its essays aim to: (1) show that naturalism "fails to deal adequately with a number of desiderata"; (2) establish that a "consistent" naturalism must be a strong form of reductive physicalism; and (3) showcase "the contemporary resurgence of philosophical theism." While the volume clearly accomplishes the third objective, it doesn't get anywhere near accomplishing either of the other objectives.
The anthology Reason for the Hope Within aims to mount a broad defense of the Christian faith, in part by explaining how it can be reasonable for Christians to accept puzzling or paradoxical Christian doctrines, and in part by persuading nonbelievers that all of the core claims of Christianity are true. Oppy explains why he thinks that the book utterly fails to accomplish one of these aims, and thus fails to do much to advance the standing of Christian apologetics. Along the way, Oppy argues that science adopts methodological naturalism because metaphysical naturalism is probably true.