Varieties of Naturalism and Humanism

Abstract

Methodological naturalism is the appropriate starting point both for science and for understanding ordinary experience. But it has to be distinguished carefully from metaphysical naturalism. Furthermore, the relation between a naturalistic, scientific stance and humanistic attitudes needs further elucidation. Historically, it is argued that in the development of modernity, humanism and science stem from different sources and have yet to be integrated. The chapter ends with the introduction of “middle-ground humanism,” a concept that may facilitate the search for shared moral orientations across different understandings of our human situation.