naturalism
/ˈnatʃ(ə)rəlɪz(ə)m
/noun [mass noun]
1(In art and literature) a style and theory of representation based on the accurate depiction of detail: his attack on naturalism in TV drama...
- He combined elements of naturalism and romanticism to create a portrait of Napoleon which was both more physically accurate and more emotionally probing than the work of any of his rivals.
- He lived in Paris 1910-14 and was influenced by the Expressionistic naturalism of Rodin.
- The play calls on the actors to explore different acting styles in scenes that range from kitchen-sink naturalism to loopy surrealism.
The name ‘Naturalism’ was given to a 19th-century artistic and literary movement, influenced by contemporary ideas of science and society, which rejected the idealization of experience and adopted an objective and often uncompromisingly realistic approach to art. Notable figures include the novelist Zola and the painter Courbet.
2The philosophical belief that everything arises from natural properties and causes, and supernatural or spiritual explanations are excluded or discounted: this romanticized attitude to the world did conflict with his avowed naturalism...
- Most atheists and other advocates of philosophical naturalism also believe in materialism, the idea that everything that actually exists is material or physical.
- The second is philosophical naturalism, which says that everything in the universe is governed by natural law and nothing ever circumvents that law.
- Similarly, according to many defenders of naturalism, philosophy is not discontinuous with science.
3(In moral philosophy) the theory that ethical statements can be derived from non-ethical ones.Like classical naturalism, Finnis's naturalism is both an ethical theory and a theory of law....
- One objection against it is one directed against all forms of ethical naturalism: namely that the biological origins of a sentiment have no obvious bearing on its ethical value.
- As is well known, he was a powerful critic of ethical naturalism, holding that goodness is a ‘simple’ and ‘nonnatural’ property.