Against Methodological Naturalism

Abstract

In this essay, I will explain why Methodological Naturalism (MN) fails as a demarcating criteria for science. I will argue that MN is not precise enough to be useful for demarcation, unable to follow the evidence where it leads, not theologically neutral (despite its stated goals as such), and difficult to justify (and currently unjustified) as an ontological or epistemic principle

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Paul Mayer
Rice University

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References found in this work

What is it like to be a bat?Thomas Nagel - 1974 - Philosophical Review 83 (October):435-50.
Against method.Paul Feyerabend - 1975 - London: New Left Books.
Are We Living in a Computer Simulation?Nick Bostrom - 2003 - Philosophical Quarterly 53 (211):243-255.
Naturalism.Davidn D. Papineau - 2007 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

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