Philosophy Stack Exchange
Philosophy Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [naturalism]

98 questions
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What is the difference between naturalism and materialism?

What is the difference between naturalism and materialism, if any? I see definitions of naturalism that say, in effect, it is the belief that there is no supernatural. But what is the supernatural other than that which is not natural, which seems…
David Lewis
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Is naturalism falsifiable?

From Wikipedia: In philosophy, naturalism is the idea or belief that only natural laws and forces (as opposed to supernatural ones) operate in the universe.[1] Naturalism is not so much a special system as a point of view or tendency common to a…
user48437
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Why is it an unpopular view, among philosophers and religious people, that a human being has a supernatural, spiritual soul?

I used to believe that a human being has a supernatural, spiritual soul and that it is obvious for the reasons stated below. I was very surprised to find out that not only secular philosophy, but even Catholic academic theology seem to reject this…
gaazkam
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Is it possible to define "the supernatural"?

From a naturalistic perspective, it is possible to argue that the supernatural not only doesn't exist, but cannot even be defined. The reasoning goes that anything which "appears" to be supernatural, is simply misunderstood or conforms to laws of…
LightCC
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What is the difference between Naturalism and Physicalism?

I am trying to figure the difference between Naturalism and Physicalism. As far as I could tell, they were the same thing, except that physicalism (physicalist vs dualist) was the term used when discussing philosophy of mind and naturalism was the…
Alexander S King
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Adequate Animal Housing and the Naturalistic Fallacy

Many animal rights activists claim that adequate animal housing should be geared towards the natural environment of animals. For example, they claim that monkeys should be not kept within human's houses because their natural environment is the…
Bob
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Could there ever be evidence for an infinite being?

The God of Anselm is understood as "that than which nothing greater can be conceived." From this definition, God can be presumed to be omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, perfectly free, uncaused, eternal, morally perfect, etc. God is fashioned as…
Bryson S.
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Can science inform philosophy?

Philosophy can sometimes inform science. After all, science was once called natural philosophy, and the scientific method is a creation of philosophy. However, does the arrow of influence go both ways? That is, can science inform philosophical…
user107952
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Quine and the Myth of the Given

To give you some background details about myself: I have a deep interest in Quine's work and Naturalism in Philosophy; I have been independently studying and reading Quine's work and his relation to other philosophers, in particular the relation…
Leucippus
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What is David Chalmers' Naturalistic dualism?

Can somebody explain to me exactly what David Chalmers' Naturalistic dualism is, because I have heard a lot of conflicting explanations on it?
john taylor
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Is G.E Moore's notion of goodness widely held and defended by contemporaneous philosophers?

I was wondering whether the idea that goodness cannot be defined and is just intuitively recognisable when observed, still holds significant weight? It seems somewhat similar to Plato's idea of goodness in the sense that we know it when we see it…
Jim stoke
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Are artificially synthesized chemical elements natural?

Humans have synthesized elements that do not exist in nature, at least not around here. This strikes me as a serious philosophical hairball: where does a philosophical naturalist put these critters? On the one hand, they are arguably a product of…
user20153
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Does the simplicity or complexity of God even matter with respect to worldviews?

Inspired by this question here, I was wondering whether or not it even matters if God is simple or complex compared to the complexity of your entire worldview. Even if god is simple, and the doctrine of divine simplicity was correct (and there are…
Syed
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From a theistic epistemological perspective, how does one distinguish between mundane events and divinely orchestrated ones?

I'm agnostic, but I have several friends and acquaintances who are theists, and some have tried to persuade me toward their beliefs. One thing I find difficult to grasp is their epistemology—how they determine that God is interacting with them or…
user80226
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Is philosophical naturalism circular reasoning?

I'm a steadfast proponent of science and logic, but it's been occurring to me lately that this belief in the veracity of science may be just that, a belief---no different than a theist's beliefs in God. It seems that this idea that the universe…
brianmearns
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