Naturalism.org

Ionian Enchantment: A Brief History of Scientific Naturalism

by Ignacio Prado, Tufts University, June 2006

By highlighting our complete connection to the cosmos and our current circumstances, worldview naturalism grounds an effective approach to personal, social and existential concerns; it therefore constitutes a positive alternative to faith-based religions and other non-naturalistic philosophies. In particular, naturalism challenges dualistic notions of free will which suppose we transcend the cause and effect laws described by science.

Naturalism at a glance

Naturalism is the understanding that there is a single, natural world as shown by science, and that we are completely included in it. Naturalism holds that everything we are and do is connected to the rest of the world and derived from conditions that precede us and surround us.

In The Moral Landscape, Sam Harris argues that the rewarding conscious states which he says constitute human flourishing should be available to all, not just a privileged few. It’s an objective moral truth, certified by science, that we should seek “the heights of happiness for the greatest number of people” (p. 28). Some conceptions of morality prevent many from flourishing, so there’s a disparity between what some believe about morality and moral reality, according to Harris.

Introduction and Overview