- Humanistic naturalism
Humanistic naturalism is the branch of
philosophical naturalism whereinhuman beings are best able to control and understand the world through use of the scientific method. Concepts of spirituality, intuition, andmetaphysics are not pursued because they are unfalsifiable, and therefore can never progress beyond personal opinion. A boundary is not drawn betweennature and what lies "beyond" nature; everything is regarded as a result of explainable processes within nature, with nothing lying outside of it. [ Living Issues in Philosophy (4th ed.; New York: American Book Co., 1963): 215-221. ] The belief that all living things are divine and intricate extensions of nature, and therefore deserve some degree of mutual respect from human beings. Naturalists accept the need for adaption to current change, however it may be, and also that life must feed upon life for survival. But they recognize as well, the necessity for a fair exchange of resources between all species. - - Industry and technology are enemies to naturalism. For thousands of years (until the 1800s), agricultural and hunter-gatherer societies have lived in harmony and balance with nature. A serious alteration of earthen existence is now occurring as a consequence to so-called scientific progress. -References
* Titus, Harold H. Living Issues in Philosophy (4th ed.; New York: American Book Co., 1963): 215-221.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.