Humanistic naturalism
Encyclopedia
Scientific method
Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...
. Concepts of spirituality, intuition, and metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
are not pursued because they are unfalsifiable, and therefore can never progress beyond personal opinion. A boundary is not drawn between nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
and what lies "beyond" nature; everything is regarded as a result of explainable processes within nature, with nothing lying outside of it.
The belief is that all living things are intricate extensions of nature, and therefore deserves some degree of mutual respect from human beings. Naturalists accept the need for adaption to current change, however it may be, and also that life must feed upon life for survival. But they recognize as well, the necessity for a fair exchange of resources between all species.
Industry and technology are sometimes regarded as enemies to naturalism but it is not always the case. For the ones who do believe that, the thought is that the majority of human history, societies were largely agricultural and hunter-gatherer and lived in relative harmony and balance with nature. But with the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, naturalists see this balance as being increasingly threatened.