Startled by Existence

What is Naturalism?

If Naturalism is true, every finite thing or event must be (in principle) explicable in terms of the Total system. I say “explicable in principle” because we are not going to demand that naturalists, at any given moment, should have found the detailed explanation of every phenomenon. Obviously many things will only be explained when the sciences have made further progress. But if Naturalism is to be accepted we have a right to demand that every single thing should be such that we see, in general, how it could be explained in terms of the Total system. If any one thing exist which is of such a kind that we see in advance the impossibility of ever giving it that kind of explanation, the Naturalism would be in ruins. If necessities of thought force us to allow to any one thing any degree of independence from the Total System—if any one thing makes a good a claim to be on its own, to be something more than and expression of the character of Nature as a whole—then we have abandoned naturalism. For by Naturalism we mean the doctrine that only Nature—the whole interlocking system—exists. (CS Lewis, Miracles (The Cardinal Difficulty of Naturalism p 12)