Naturalism
Some of my fondest childhood memories come from family vacations where we would visit museums. As a kid, museums made the world feel impossibly big and exciting. We live in an ancient universe billions of years old, huge dinosaurs roamed and owned the earth, historic battles shaped governments and dynasties, and, even today, lands and animals exist across the globe that seemed far more exotic than Kansas... Museums were windows into a much, much bigger world and reality than I experienced. Although I appreciated all kinds of museums, science museums were always my favorite.
Whether or not it's fully true, in my experience, science museums have staple exhibits. There is always a section on space, the human body, a demonstration of liquid nitrogen shrinking balloons, and a machine that creates mini-tornados out of vapor (shoutout Kansas). Every time I visited, I was blown away that humanity has explanations for so many varied and complicated things. The same phenomenon that makes a giant, destructive tornado spin also makes leaves spin in circles during Fall. A metal bench feels colder than a plastic bench at the same temperature because the metal steals body heat faster. We can explain so many of our experiences, and predict the outcome of future experiments, by simply understanding the principles of how the world works. These natural laws govern physical reality and their beauty, utility, and coolness is what propelled me to study the physical sciences.
What does this have to do with naturalism? Well, philosophical naturalism believes that natural laws are responsible for how everything in the universe behaves. At first glance, this sounds both plausible and attractive. If everything follows natural laws AND you understand them well enough, you would be able to explain everything! However, there are some implications to consider before ascribing to pure naturalism.
Core Beliefs of Philosophical Naturalism
Reality is entirely natural
One of the core tenants of philosophical naturalism is that the entire universe is made up of matter and energy. "What else is there?" you might be wondering. If everything consists of matter and energy, by definition, nothing supernatural exists.
The most only reliable way to engage the world is through the scientific method.
Reality is entirely natural
Everything that exists (matter and energy) is part of the natural world; there are no supernatural entities or forces.
The supernatural does not exist
No soul. No ghosts. No soulmates.
The universe is governed by natural laws
All phenomena can ultimately be explained by natural causes and laws without invoking supernatural explanations.
Science is the best method for understanding reality
Empirical observation, experimentation, and the scientific method are the primary tools for acquiring reliable knowledge.
Mind and consciousness arise from physical processes
Mental states and consciousness are the result of brain activity and do not require a non-physical soul or spirit.
Humans are part of nature
Human beings are the product of natural evolutionary processes and not fundamentally different from other animals in origin.
There is no ultimate purpose or teleology in nature
The universe and life within it do not have inherent or divinely assigned purposes or goals.
Ethics and meaning are human constructs
Morality, values, and meaning are derived from human culture, reasoning, and social interaction—not from supernatural sources.
Skepticism toward supernatural claims
Philosophical naturalists are typically skeptical of religious or spiritual claims unless they can be supported by empirical evidence.
Pros of Philosophical Naturalism
Challenges of Philosophical Naturalism
One of the core tenants of philosophical naturalism is that the entire universe is made up of matter and energy. "Of course! What else is there?" you might be wondering. If everything is only made up matter and energy, this means that nothing supernatural exists. You have no spirit or soul. In fact, nobody does. There is no such things as ghosts. The idea of soulmates? Preposterous. Morality and ethics are contrived by what is functional and useful rather than any understanding of "true" right or wrong. Finally, anyone who has ever made a supernatural claim throughout all of history was either 1. Lying or 2. Mistaken. Since natural laws are the only agents acting on the world, there can be no such thing as a miracle. Anyone's belief in a supernatural event is actually a mischaracterization of one or more natural phenomena.