Naturalism is one of many viewpoints that persons hold concerning the origin of life and matters of existence. So what is Naturalism? Naturalism is the logical conclusion or progression from Deism. Naturalism denies the existence of God and relies on the physical world and science to know truth. Prime reality for the Naturalist is physical matter. The world is set forth as a closed system and may or may not be a machine or clockwork. Most Naturalists are determinist, which means every action is predetermined, thus leaving the human with no real freedom of choice. What then is a human being? According to this mindset, a human is nothing more than a very complex chemical machine. Although some Naturalist take the stance that the human is both mind and machine, most Naturalist see the mind as a machine as well. For instance, Naturalist William Barrett said, “Man, the microcosm, is just another machine within the universal machine that is the cosmos.” If man is a machine, then after death the logical ending is just that: a true ending by personal extinction. The only way then for the person to live on is by the legacy he has left behind.
What is right and wrong for the Naturalist? Because Naturalist draw their conclusions from human reasoning, there can be no real truth. Morality is no different. They can reason all they want to explain morality, but if everything is predetermined then there can be no real morality. With this train of thought, there is no option to choose between right and wrong. History for the Naturalist is a linear system which is a single string of events. This would leave everyone and everything as an effect of an initial cause. Problems with Naturalism include no absolute foundation for morals and ethics, and the lack of ability to truly know anything at all. Naturalism is then void and empty, leaving a person with no hope since this life would be meaningless.
To be continued…