1. Session 4: The Naturalistic Horizon

2. Living with Polyvalent Language
The abstract words Nature, Naturalistic and Naturalism have polyvalent meanings, just as the words transcend, transcendental and transcendentalism, along with human, humanistic and humanism do.
Be prepared for different individuals to invoke the word “Nature” to signify different things, according to each one’s worldview and doors of perception.

3. NATURE How Our Worldviews & Epistemologies Influence What We “See” in Nature
Metaphysical: Eternal Spirit
Transcendent -Spiritual-Consciousness
Literary: Heart
Mythic-Poetic
Philosophical: Mind
Rational-Abstract
Artistic: Soul
Aesthetic- Symbolic
Scientific: Body
Empirical-Impersonal
Physical: Temporal Matter
Immanent-Material-Cosmos

5. Books Defending Worldview Naturalism

6. What Is Worldview Naturalism?
Naturalism (philosophy) is any of several philosophical stances wherein all phenomena or hypotheses commonly labeled as “supernatural” are either false or not inherently different from natural phenomena or hypotheses.
Metaphysical naturalism, a form of naturalism that holds that the cosmos consists only of objects studied by the natural sciences, and does NOT include any immaterial or intentional realities.

7. Naturalists Allergic Reactions Toward All Metaphysical Beliefs
Worldview naturalists are “allergic” to any views they regard as supernatural, metaphysical, mystical, magical, mythical or miraculous.
They are skeptical toward all beliefs identified as Romantic, Transcendental, Esoteric, New Thought or New Age.
They are debunkers of beliefs they regard as irrational, unscientific, naïve and superstitious.
At the same time, many naturalists retain a sense of wonder and awe at the grandeur and beauty, order and symmetry of the natural world.

8. What is Methodological Naturalism?
Methodological naturalism holds that science is to be done without reference to supernatural or metaphysical causes;
It also refers to a methodological assumption in the philosophy of religion that observable events are fully explainable by natural causes without reference to the supernatural, esoteric or non-physical.

9. The Ideology of “Scientism”
Scientism is an approach to human knowledge that assumes that the natural sciences are our one reliable guide to reality and truth, and that all other domains of knowledge and modes of experience ought to submit to the authority of the natural sciences.
Scientism says, “Studies in such domains as philosophy, religion, history, linguistics, literature , music and the arts are fine, but they must each submit to the higher authority of objectively reliable empirical facts known only through the natural sciences and within the naturalistic worldview.

10. Many Types of Naturalism
Spiritual Naturalism, an approach to spirituality that is devoid of supernaturalism
Religious Naturalism, religious, institutions, rituals, doctrines and communities which do not include supernatural beliefs
Humanistic Naturalism emphasizes scientific reasoning as a basis for humane behavior

14. Many Types of Naturalism
Sociological Naturalism is the view that the natural world and the social world are roughly identical and governed by similar principles
Political naturalism is a politic and legal system based on the belief in the existence of a fair natural law
Naturalistic Observation is an empirical method of study by which the researcher introduces no outside stimulus, instead witnessing behavior as it naturally occurs in the environment

15. What Is Literary Naturalism?
Literary Naturalism was a movement or tendency from the 1880s to 1930s that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character, being materialistic, deterministic, fatalistic and pessimistic.
It was a mainly unorganized literary movement that sought to depict believable everyday reality, as opposed to such movements as Romanticism or Surrealism, in which subjects may receive highly symbolic, idealistic or even supernatural treatment.

16. Summary of Types of Naturalism
Religious or Spiritual Naturalism
Enjoyment of Wonder and Awe Without
Any Transcendent Metaphysical Dimension
Literary Naturalism
Imaginative Narratives
Philosophical Naturalism
Rational Ideas
Artistic Naturalism
Aesthetic Creations
Scientific Naturalism
Empirical Discoveries
Social, Economic & Political Naturalism
Tension Between Conservation & Consumption

17. Humans Projecting Our Various Moods upon Nature
Benevolent
Malevolent
Ambiguous
Indifferent

18. Naturalism: A Spectrum of Moods
Utopian Naturalists: Paradise on Earth - Now or Then
Optimistic Naturalists: Science and Technology Win
Ambivalent Naturalists: The Best and Worst of Times
Pessimistic Naturalists: Tragic Suffering is Inevitable
Apocalyptic Naturalists: The Earth’s Fate - Doomsday

19. The Naturalistic Horizon
The Macro-Cosmic Inter-Stellar Dimension
The Micro-Atomic Quantum Dimension
The Midi-Scale Living Earth Dimension
Stages in the Evolutionary “Tree of Life”
Cosmos & Consciousness, Body & Mind
Dualism, Physicalism, Idealism & Panpsychism

20. The Macro-Cosmic Inter-Stellar Dimension

21. The Sub-Atomic Quantum Dimension

22. The Midi-Level Living Earth Dimension

23. The Wisdom of the Four Elements

24. The Wisdom of the Four Seasons

25. The Wisdom of Night and Day

26. The Evolutionary Tree of Life

27. The Mind-Body Problem

28. The Mind-Body Problem

29. What is the Relationship Between Cosmos & Consciousness?

30. Questions About Naturalism
Why does Nature matter?
What does Nature mean to you?
Is Nature enough, without the transcendent?
In what sense, if any, would you call yourself a Naturalist?
What critique, if any, do you have of philosophical, scientific, literary, artistic and/or social-economic-political naturalism?
What relation do you envision as existing between the naturalist horizon and the two other horizons?

31. Basic Questions About Nature
Is Nature indwelt by Divinity (Mind, Soul, Spirit)?
Is Nature ultimately “atoms and the void,” without Mind-Soul-Spirit?
Is Nature essentially symbiotic, kind and benevolent?
Is Nature essentially predatory, rapacious and cruel?
Is Nature ultimately ambiguous and inscrutable?
Is Nature ultimately indifferent to human concerns?
Is Nature ours to conquer, exploit and plunder?