What is Naturalism?
When many people hear the word naturalism they may picture an outdoors person, or perhaps an environmentalist. Or, they may confuse it with naturists who like to wear no clothing.
It is true that many naturalists care deeply about the environment - a few might even incidentally happen to be nudists! But the word in this practice refers to philosophical naturalism. This is a worldview that includes only the natural universe, as governed by natural laws; understood through the tools of reason and evidence. That is, it doesn’t include the supernatural.
One might ask, “How do you know the natural universe is all there is?” This is a legitimate question. Some naturalists do say that, while others are more agnostic on the question. Although the practice described in this book is a naturalist one, it is broader than naturalism alone. It is a naturalistic spirituality - one example of Spiritual Naturalism.
Such a practice seeks an approach that is quite different from those atheists (old or ‘new’) who go about criticizing other people’s beliefs and religion, etc. Instead, it advocates humility in claims to knowledge. This means we don’t claim to know all that is or isn’t. On the deepest level, we can’t even really know that we aren’t all brains in jars being fed false images. But, of course, pragmatism forces us to accept some level of assumption just to get along in the world. So, we accept that what we can see and measure with our senses refers to a shared reality1.
In this, we see a monism to the universe, bound together by cause and effect into one whole; all of these parts apparently interacting in accord with natural laws. Even supernaturalists, though they have additional beliefs, will agree with this much about this universe.
Monism and natural law are what make evidence and reason, respectively, good tools for coming to conclusions. If everything is interconnected, then events create ripples and leave evidence that can be studied and implications drawn. And, if everything operates by natural laws, then we can use reason to understand the world.
However, as a spiritual practice, I try to always be aware that the entire endeavor rests upon a set of assumptions, practical though they may be. Even operating within this level of assumption, we also cannot know at all times that we haven’t made mistakes in our reason or assessment of the evidence. This calls us to always be humble.
So, it’s not a claim to know other people’s beliefs are false. Rather, it is a matter of self restraint in making claims of my own that I cannot back up with some kind of shared and verifiable evidence. A personal spiritual practice is not about telling others what they ought to believe or disbelieve.
The practice also involves having confidence that, when not being insulted or made to feel threatened, free minds will tend toward reason in their own time and their own way.
Such an approach has real implications on how we treat and relate to our fellow human beings. Sometimes, it may indeed be that sharing some information is integral to caring about someone or doing the right thing. But here we must check that helping others is our true motivation, and not egotism. When it comes to sharing beliefs with others, we remind ourselves that Truth is sacred to the rational being and a powerful thing (if what we possess is, in fact, Truth - which is no guarantee).
If Truth is sacred, then we also recognize: that which is sacred and powerful should not be thrown about carelessly or dispensed without consideration. Truth best flows where the landscape naturally cradles its rivers. One does not take the waters of truth and flood crops and villages, so to speak. Even Truth, if devoid of compassion, can be abusive and vicious.
So, we are not naturalists because we know, but because we don’t know. We are content to admit that we do not have the power to know all things. And so, we base our spiritual practice only on those things which we do know - and that means a spiritual practice built on the natural universe, as revealed by reason and evidence.
Incidentally, since we all share this natural universe at least, those with faith-based or supernatural beliefs can still benefit from the practice explained in this book. It is not too much unlike a book on building a car engine. Even though most books on mechanics probably make no mention of angels or the afterlife for example, people of any belief can use them and gain benefit2.
So, this kind of naturalism is about humbly refraining from making assumptions or claims about things we cannot verify to others. It is about building a practice for happiness and wisdom that is based on things we can all share. Most importantly, it is about living values by example rather than conflict or argument. That is, focusing on compassion and loving one another as we all try to make our way as best as we can - respecting one another's individual experiences and thoughts about the world along the way.