Naturalism and Agnosticism
The Gifford Lectures Delivered before the University of Aberdeen in the Years 1896–1898

First published in 1899, these two volumes by the prominent philosopher James Ward argue for Idealism over Naturalism and Agnosticism.

James Ward (Author)

9781108040983, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 8 December 2011

310 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.8 cm, 0.4 kg

James Ward (1843–1925) was Professor of Mental Philosophy and Logic at the University of Cambridge. First published in 1899, this two-volume work consists of his Gifford Lectures, delivered between 1896 and 1898, in which he criticises Naturalism (the belief that all phenomena are governed by the laws of science, and that the supernatural cannot exist), and Agnosticism (the belief that the existence of spiritual phenomena cannot be proved or disproved), in favour of Idealism, in which spiritual and non-material phenomena are central to human experience. The lectures in Volume 2 oppose dualist defences of the Mechanical Theory, which claim that the mind is distinct from physical objects. Ward ultimately argues for a monistic Idealist view, in which consciousness and the physical world are inseparable. He also claims that because Naturalism is so easily refuted, it actually promotes Idealism, in an argument that continues to evoke philosophical debate.

Part III. Theory of Psychophysical Parallelism: 11. Various forms of the theory
12. The conscious automaton theory
13. Summary and reflexions
Part IV. Refutation of Dualism: 14. General conception of experience
15. Experience as life
16. Rise of dualism
17. Unity of individual and universal experience
Part V. Spiritualistic Monism: 18. Capitulation of agnostic monism
19. Nature as teleological
20. Spiritualistic monism
Index.

Subject Areas: Philosophy of science [PDA]