naturalism Hear it!

naturalism Definition

natu·ral·ism (nac̸h′ər əl iz′əm, nac̸h′rə liz′-)

noun

  1. action or thought based on natural desires or instincts
  2. Literature, Art, etc.
    1. faithful adherence to nature; realism; specif., the principles and methods of a group of 19th-cent. writers, including Émile Zola, Gustave Flaubert, and Guy de Maupassant, who believed that the writer or artist should apply scientific objectivity and precision in observing and depicting life, without idealizing, imposing value judgments, or avoiding what may be regarded as sordid or repulsive
    2. the quality resulting from the use of such realism
  3. Ethics the theory that distinctions between good and bad can be reduced to nonnormative or factual terms and statements, according to psychology, biology, etc.
  4. Philos. the belief that the natural world, as explained by scientific laws, is all that exists and that there is no supernatural or spiritual creation, control, or significance
  5. Theol. the doctrine that religion does not depend on supernatural experience, divine revelation, etc., and that all religious truth may be derived from the natural world

naturalism Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • call: Evolution has a foundation in philosophy which is called naturalism or materialism.
  • have: The performances, too, have an almost embarrassing naturalism.
  • see: Their opponents then have the upper hand as they still have their presuppositions see Naturalism, logic and reality.
  • give: To say that OOL is inexplicable given naturalism seems well-established.
  • presuppose: If you begin by presupposing naturalism, then of course what you wind up with is a purely natural Jesus!
  • label: The supposedly acceptable form is labeled'methodological naturalism ' .

Adjective modifier

  • methodological: Here, Pierre Jacob addresses the question raised by his accepting methodological naturalism, not metaphysical naturalism.
  • philosophical: In these articles, I sketch some of the basic reasons for thinking that philosophical naturalism is unable to account for reality.
  • scientific: Scientific naturalism, however, is a philosophy which goes well beyond science.
  • literary: The British author BS Johnson embarked on a quest for absolute literary naturalism which ended in his suicide.
  • ethical: Casual acquaintance with Enlightenment thought discloses that ethical naturalism was at its core.