NATURALISM

(PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN PERSON)

BOQUIREN, MA. CHARISMA ELAINE B.

NATURALISM
• It us a philosophy that emphasizes the preservation of
natural goodness of an individual and the formation of
society based upon the recognition of natural light.
• It views that man, as he comes from nature is good but
that he becomes evil through contact with society.
• It also emphasizes the necessity for man to be free to
develop his own natural impulses and to grow up in a
society that which he could engage his activities in a
natural manner.
• Is a decidedly philosophical approach and an entrant in
the grand debate about what is the true global view
JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU
• A swiss-born French philosopher of Naturalism, Nationalism,
Romanticism, and the Enlightenment.
• His mother died nine days after his birth due to complications from
birth.
• In 1712 his father who is failed watchmaker abandoned him to avoid
imprisonment for fighting a duel.
• His uncle put him in the care of Lombercils, a pastor Bossey near
Geneva.
• His experience of corporal punishment at the hands of the pastor’s
sister was important in the formation of sexuality.
• He became a secretary and companion to Madame Loise de Warrens
who had a profound influence on Rousseau’s life and writing.
 NATURALIST
Jean Jacques
Rousseau Nature, itself, is a
June 28, 1712-July 2, 1778 total system that
contains and explains all
existence including human
beings and human
nature. The whole
universe is governed by
laws of nature and they
are changeable.
Rousseau’s Philosophy
 His view that man is good in nature
conflicts with the doctrine of the
original sin which led to
condemnation of Emile by the
Catholic authorities in Paris.
 His book Social Contract claims
that true followers of Jesus would
not make good citizens.
 He questioned the assumption that
the majority is always correct.
 He pointed out that the goal of
government should be to secure
freedom, equality, and justice for all
within the state regardless of the
majority.
 His ideas in education had profound
influence on modern educational
theory.
 The importance of expression rather
than repression produces a well-
balanced free thinking children.
 His contribution to Philosophy,
Politics, Sociology, Religion, Arts and
Sciences had influenced the
movement in Western Europe.
 Friedrich Frobel , John Heinrich
Pestalozzi and other pioneers of
modern philosophy and education
had been greatly influenced o his
psychologically oriented method of
child care.
Principles
of
Naturalis
o Nature is the ultimate reality. Man
subordinates to nature.
o Laws of nature are unchangeable and the
entire universe is governed by it.
o According to naturalists, science reveals
the mysteries of nature and hence
scientific knowledge is final.
o The real world is the material.
o Naturalism has no faith in soul or spirit.
It does not believe in divinity. Human life
is interpreted in terms of matter only.
o A naturalist thinks that everything that comes to us
from nature is good but it degenerates in the hands of
man.

o Naturalists regard that in the natural order of

things all human beings are equal.

o Naturalism believes that senses are gateways of

knowledge

o Values are created in terms of specific needs.

o Man creates societies to meet some of its needs.

o All things originated from matter and will reduce to

matter.
FORMS OF
N ATURALISM
PHYSICAL NATURALISTS

• Also known as the material naturalism, emphasis purely on

physical nature.
• It believes only in reality of material objects and the
laws of mass and motion
• Man is the only one of the objects of physical nature
• Children mass learn from their sensory experiences because
the senses are the gateways of knowledge.
BIOLOGICAL NATURALIST
• Darwin and Lamarck are the greatest exponents of
Biological Naturalist
• It derives its data and first principles from the
biological rather than the physical sciences.
• It accepts man as the highest form of living organism
in the evolutionary process.
THE BASIC STANDPOINTS OF BIOLOGICAL NATURALISM ARE
TWO:
• Each creature has an
urge to live and
• He struggles to exist

• In the struggle for existence

those that are fit, survives,
and those that are not, dies.
The theory is best known as the
“survival of the fittest” which
was coined by Herbert Spencer.