The Process of Formation of Methodological Naturalism in the History of Western Thought

This essay examines the status of methodological naturalism (the exclusion of supernatural causes in explaining nature) in Western intellectual history and the process by which it became recognized as the defining feature of modern science. Through historical analysis of Western thought, the author traces methodological naturalism back to the end of the mythological period and the birth of philosophical thinking. In ancient Greece, except for Plotinus and to some extent Plato, the dominant discourse in understanding nature relied exclusively on natural causes. In the early Middle Ages, due to inclination toward Platonism and Neoplatonism, supernaturalism and appeal to revealed knowledge shaped scholars' methods of inquiry into nature.