Naturalism

Abstract

Philosophical naturalism is the view that traditional problems in epistemology, language, metaphysics, mind, and morality can be solved only by appeal to the results of empirical research. We cannot hope to solve these problems a priori, by reflecting on our everyday concepts and the logical relations between them. On the face of it, naturalism seems quite appealing, and almost obvious. But naturalism faces serious challenges. Many of these topics are, broadly speaking, normative, while the empirical sciences are not. As a result, the sciences may leave out precisely the normative aspects that make these phenomena so interesting, valuable, and puzzling.