What is Naturalism?

what is naturalism

naturalism is a philosophical doctrine

which holds the belief that matter is

the ultimate reality

thus naturalism believes that the

material world

is the only real world and that

it is governed by natural laws

as we can see naturalism is directly

opposed to idealism

in its interpretation of reality in the

sense that

idealism holds the belief that the

material world

is not real for the idealists

the material world is just a copy of the

real

which is beyond this world

for example for plato who was considered

to be the leading proponent of idealism

the true reality cannot be experienced

through the senses the true reality for

plato

is the universal and eternal form

that exists beyond the material world

naturalism and realism are of kindred

spirit

as both regard matter as the ultimate

reality

however they differ significantly in its

interpretation of

nature in realism

there is the emphasis on a faithful

representation

of nature while in naturalism

nature is viewed as a force

that is a powerful and indifferent

mechanism

given that nature is a force a powerful

and independent mechanism the material

world for the naturalist

therefore is being governed by a system

of natural laws

hence for the naturalist nature is

everything it is the whole and

ultimate reality for this reason

when the naturalist interprets the

material world

he or she focuses on explanations that

come from the loss of nature

rather than employing supernatural or

spiritual explanations

this explains why the naturalists have

high regard for actual

or natural facts situations and

realities

for this reason the naturalists presume

that

in principle nature is completely

knowable

this is because there is in nature

irregularity unity and wholeness

which can be accessed by the human mind

according to the naturalists without

these regularity

unity and wholeness objective and

scientific knowledge

would not be possible

in philosophy the leading proponents of

naturalism

are f.j.e woodridge maurice r

cohen ernest nagle sydney hook

and the famous john dewey

however the best known proponent of

naturalism

was the novelist and french art critic

emile zola in fact

zola was considered by many scholars as

the father of naturalism