Neil
New
My title is intended to be provocative, but at the same time, I do wish it to express a genuine concern in which I cannot see what the real content of the Naturalistic position really is. If Naturalism is really just denying the supernatural, what use is it? This would make it a position that just denies Santa Claus.
In the Wikipedia article, it talks about some like Paul Kurtz saying that "nature is best accounted for by reference to material principles." But what does this mean and how can it be maintained in a contemporary physics that has now progressed to the point of non-material informational relations being more fundamental?
Another part says that "this sense of naturalism holds that spirits, deities, and ghosts are not real." But I am unclear on exactly what basis the concept of spirits and ghosts are logically excluded from naturalism, since I could see a way in which they would be included in a Naturalistic philosophy if consciousness is real and is based on experience of informational relations. Does Naturalism deny conscious experience?
Am I the only one that is confused about what Naturalism is supposed to be in the context of any scientifically motivated metaphysical dialog?
In the Wikipedia article, it talks about some like Paul Kurtz saying that "nature is best accounted for by reference to material principles." But what does this mean and how can it be maintained in a contemporary physics that has now progressed to the point of non-material informational relations being more fundamental?
Another part says that "this sense of naturalism holds that spirits, deities, and ghosts are not real." But I am unclear on exactly what basis the concept of spirits and ghosts are logically excluded from naturalism, since I could see a way in which they would be included in a Naturalistic philosophy if consciousness is real and is based on experience of informational relations. Does Naturalism deny conscious experience?
Am I the only one that is confused about what Naturalism is supposed to be in the context of any scientifically motivated metaphysical dialog?