Naturalist Dogmatism

The uncritical, unquestioning acceptance of naturalism as simply “how things are,” without awareness that naturalism is a philosophical stance, not a proven fact. The naturalist dogmatist treats their worldview as common sense and any deviation as obviously mistaken, rarely examining the assumptions that underlie naturalism itself (e.g., that all causes are physical). This dogmatism is invisible to the dogmatist, who sees themselves as simply “realistic.”

Example: “She assumed that souls couldn’t exist because science doesn’t measure them—naturalist dogmatism, mistaking absence of evidence for evidence of absence.”

Naturalist Orthodoxy

The dominant, institutionalized set of naturalist beliefs and practices within mainstream science, philosophy, and education, enforced through curricula, funding priorities, and professional gatekeeping. Naturalist orthodoxy determines what questions are “scientific,” what explanations are acceptable, and who is considered a serious thinker. It often marginalizes non‑naturalist approaches (e.g., panpsychism, idealism) as unscientific, even when they are internally coherent and empirically plausible. Like all orthodoxies, it shapes what can be thought.

Example: “The university’s philosophy department hired only naturalists—naturalist orthodoxy, using hiring to enforce metaphysical conformity.”

Naturalist Dogmatism by Dumu The Void April 18, 2026