Let us begin with naturalism itself. These days, most philosophers seem eager to regard themselves as naturalists, but this is possible only because there is so little agreement about what naturalism actually involves or requires. There is, of course, a straightforwardly (and self‐consciously) scientistic form of philosophical naturalism, which simply assumes that the claims of our best scienti...

For many years now, philosophical naturalism has enjoyed the status of orthodoxy in the Western academy; and it is widely recognized among theists as one of the most important sources of opposition to belief in God. In World Without Design: The Ontological Consequences of Naturalism, I raised two main objections against naturalism. First, I argued that there is an important sense in which natur...

The paper presents an overview of arguments for and against visual naturalism in virtual humanlike agents, with a focus on pedagogical settings, concluding that there is: (i) a need for a distinction between static and dynamic qualities in the visual appearance of virtual agents; (ii) little general support for visual naturalism in virtual humanlike agents; and (iii) a definite need for more em...

While naturalistic theories have come to dominate the philosophical landscape, there is still little consensus on what “naturalism” means. I trace the origins of contemporary naturalism to a view, called the “fundamental naturalistic impulse,” that originates in Quine’s turn against Carnap and which I take to be necessary for naturalism. In light of this impulse, some “substantively naturalisti...

The rise of naturalism has affected every area of life. This thesis seeks to address the negative influence of naturalism in various educational settings, exposing the degradation of the secular society while challenging the Christian to pursue change. The United States’ participation in eugenics during the early 20 th century caused a lack of regard for the lives of special education students....