antinaturalism
|an-ti-nat-u-ral-ism|
🇺🇸
/ˌæn.tiˈnætʃərəlɪzəm/
🇬🇧
/ˌæn.tiˈnætʃ(ə)rəlɪzəm/
against naturalism
Etymology
'antinaturalism' originates from English, formed by the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti' meaning 'against') attached to 'naturalism' (ultimately from Latin 'natura' meaning 'birth, nature').
'naturalism' entered English via Latin 'naturalis' (from 'natura') and French 'naturalisme'; the prefix 'anti-' was later attached to form 'anti-naturalism', which in usage also appears as the unhyphenated 'antinaturalism.'
Initially the parts meant 'against' + 'naturalism,' and the compound has retained the basic sense of 'opposition to naturalism' while being applied in specific domains (e.g., metaphysics, ethics) with narrower senses.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the doctrine or stance opposing naturalism — i.e., the view that not all phenomena or facts can be fully explained by natural causes, laws, or scientific accounts.
Her antinaturalism led her to favour metaphysical explanations that include irreducible non-natural properties.
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Noun 2
in ethics and metaethics, the position rejecting naturalistic accounts of moral properties (often overlapping with moral non-naturalism).
Antinaturalism in metaethics argues that moral truths are not reducible to natural facts.
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Last updated: 2025/09/04 23:56