Naturalism and Its Alternatives in Scientific Methodologies

Naturalism and Its Alternatives in Scientific Methodologies
Author: Jonathan Bartlett
Publisher:
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2017-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9781944918071

While many books have covered the problems with naturalism and materialism in the sciences and academia, this is the first book to deal seriously with the question of what would replace it. How might scientific inquiry be different if it was no longer founded upon naturalism? This book is a collection of papers which aim to answer such questions.

Naturalism and Beyond

Naturalism and Beyond
Author: Niels Henrik Gregersen
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016
Genre: Naturalism
ISBN: 9789042933903

This book offers a critical analysis of the varieties of contemporary naturalism - from scientific naturalism to religious naturalism. What are the claims of naturalism apart from its denial of 'the supernatural'? What are the distinctive modes of thought within contemporary religious naturalism? Some argue for a science-based worldview, others for a cosmic view of reality that includes human engagement and religious commitment - with or without God-talk. The book shows how an appeal to what is beyond empirically validated facts resurfaces within most varieties of naturalism. But it also points to the fact that immanentist frameworks are widely presupposed among contemporary theologians who do not describe themselves as 'naturalists'. Rival positions and conflicts of interpretations emerge as to the question of transcendence and the Beyond, and different philosophical theologies are at work - from the strict denial of theism to ground-of-being-theisms to classic and alternative views of the divine.

Understanding Naturalism

Understanding Naturalism
Author: Jack Ritchie
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2014-12-05
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1317493575

Many contemporary Anglo-American philosophers describe themselves as naturalists. But what do they mean by that term? Popular naturalist slogans like, "there is no first philosophy" or "philosophy is continuous with the natural sciences" are far from illuminating. "Understanding Naturalism" provides a clear and readable survey of the main strands in recent naturalist thought. The origin and development of naturalist ideas in epistemology, metaphysics and semantics is explained through the works of Quine, Goldman, Kuhn, Chalmers, Papineau, Millikan and others. The most common objections to the naturalist project - that it involves a change of subject and fails to engage with "real" philosophical problems, that it is self-refuting, and that naturalism cannot deal with normative notions like truth, justification and meaning - are all discussed. "Understanding Naturalism" distinguishes two strands of naturalist thinking - the constructive and the deflationary - and explains how this distinction can invigorate naturalism and the future of philosophical research.

Naturalism Beyond the Limits of Science

Naturalism Beyond the Limits of Science
Author: Nina Emery
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2023
Genre: Naturalism
ISBN: 9780197654125

"This chapter defines methodological naturalism-the view metaphysicians should, whenever possible, make use of the methodology of science-and argues that most philosophers have commitments that lead straightforwardly to methodological naturalism. The argument begins by defining content naturalism--the idea that metaphysicians ought to avoid conflicts with the content of our best science--and demonstrating that the vast majority of contemporary philosophers are committed to content naturalism. The chapter then presents an argument for the content methodology link-the claim that anyone who is committed to content naturalism should accept methodological naturalism as well. The chapter closes with a discussion of several potential objections to the argument for the content-methodology link"--

Reflections on Naturalism

Reflections on Naturalism
Author: José Ignacio Galparsoro
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 174
Release: 2013-09-04
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9462092966

To naturalists, there is no such thing as complete justification for any claim, and so requiring complete warrant for naturalist proposals is an unreasonable request. The proper guideline for naturalist proposals seems thus clear: develop it using the methods of science; if this leads to a fruitful stance, then explicate and reassess. The resulting offer will exhibit virtuous circularity if its explanatory feedback loop involves critical reassessment as the explanations it encompasses play out. So viewed, naturalism is a philosophical perspective that seeks to unite in a virtuous circle the natural sciences and non-foundationalist, broadly-based empiricism. Other common lines of antinaturalist complaint are that naturalization efforts seem fruitful only in some areas, also that several endeavors outside the sciences serve as sources of knowledge into human life and the human condition, especially in areas where science does not reach terribly far as yet. It seems hard not to grant some truth to many allegories from literature, art and some religions. Naturalism has room for knowledge gathered outside science, provided the imported claims satisfy also by naturalistic methods. Naturalism and the debate about its scope and limits thrive on discrepancy. We hope that, collectively, the selected essays that follow will give a fair view of the vitality and tribulations of naturalism as a variegated contemporary philosophical perspective.

Science Without God?

Science Without God?
Author: Peter Harrison
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2019-01-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0192571540

Can scientific explanation ever make reference to God or the supernatural? The present consensus is no; indeed, a naturalistic stance is usually taken to be a distinguishing feature of modern science. Some would go further still, maintaining that the success of scientific explanation actually provides compelling evidence that there are no supernatural entities, and that true science, from the very beginning, was opposed to religious thinking. Science without God? Rethinking the History of Scientific Naturalism shows that the history of Western science presents us with a more nuanced picture. Beginning with the naturalists of ancient Greece, and proceeding through the middle ages, the scientific revolution, and into the nineteenth century, the contributors examine past ideas about 'nature' and 'the supernatural'. Ranging over different scientific disciplines and historical periods, they show how past thinkers often relied upon theological ideas and presuppositions in their systematic investigations of the world. In addition to providing material that contributes to a history of 'nature' and naturalism, this collection challenges a number of widely held misconceptions about the history of scientific naturalism.

Idealist Alternatives to Materialist Philosophies of Science

Idealist Alternatives to Materialist Philosophies of Science
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2019-12-09
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9004415270

Idealist Alternatives to Materialist Philosophies of Science (ed. Philip MacEwen) presents some of the major challenges to materialist interpretations of science while also giving materialism a full hearing.

The Question of Methodological Naturalism

The Question of Methodological Naturalism
Author: Jason N. Blum
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre: Naturalism
ISBN: 9789004346628

The Question of Methodological Naturalism offers ten essays on the role of naturalism in religious studies, ranging from sophisticated intellectual histories and philosophical analyses to trenchant denunciations and ringing endorsements. All have profound implications for the study of religions.

World Without Design

World Without Design
Author: Michael Cannon Rea
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2002
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0199247609

"Philosophical naturalism has dominated the Western academy for well over a century. According to Michael Rea, however, there is an important sense in which naturalism's status as orthodoxy is without rational foundation, and the costs of embracing it are surprisingly high. The goal of World without Design is to defend these two claims, with special attention to the second." "The first part of the book aims to provide a fair and historically informed characterization of naturalism. The second part argues for the striking thesis that naturalists are committed to rejecting realism about material objects, materialism, and perhaps realism about other minds. Rea concludes by examining two alternative research programs: intuitionism and supernaturalism, and argues for the conclusion that, under certain circumstances, intuitionism is self-defeating."

Naturalism

Naturalism
Author: Stewart Goetz
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 141
Release: 2008-04-29
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0802807682

This inaugural Interventions volume introduces readers to the dominant scientifically oriented worldview called naturalism. Stewart Goetz and Charles Taliaferro examine naturalism philosophically, evaluating its strengths and weaknesses. Whereas most other books on naturalism are written for professional philosophers alone, this one is aimed primarily at a college-educated audience interested in learning about this pervasive worldview. Read a related blog post by the authors on EerdWord.