Methodological naturalism and its misconceptions

Methodological naturalism has been defended on both intrinsic and pragmatic grounds. Both of these defenses agree that methodological naturalism is a principle of science according to which the scientist ought to eschew talk of causally efficacious disembodied minds. I argue that this is the wrong i...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal for philosophy of religion
Main Author: Smith, Tiddy (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V [2017]
In: International journal for philosophy of religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Naturalism (Philosophy)
Further subjects:B Creationism
B Empiricism
B RELIGION & science
B Faith
B Religious Aspects
B Naturalism
B Methodological Naturalism
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Methodological naturalism has been defended on both intrinsic and pragmatic grounds. Both of these defenses agree that methodological naturalism is a principle of science according to which the scientist ought to eschew talk of causally efficacious disembodied minds. I argue that this is the wrong interpretation of methodological naturalism. Methodological naturalism does not constrain the theories that scientists may conjecture, but how those theories may be justified. On this view, methodological naturalism is a principle of science according to which supernatural methods of justification, such as faith, are eschewed.
ISSN:1572-8684
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal for philosophy of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s11153-017-9616-3