Naturalism is a philosophical position that all phenomena can be explained in terms of natural causes and laws. In its broadest and strongest sense, naturalism is the metaphysical position that "nature is all there is, and all basic truths are truths of nature." Things and powers, commonly regarded as supernatural, for example, gods and witchcraft, are asserted to be nonexistent. This position is generally referred to as metaphysical or ontological naturalism.

(Ontology is that branch of philosophy that deals with what is real.) An alternative form, called methodological naturalism or scientific naturalism, is concerned with acquiring knowledge (epistemology in philosophy). It requires that hypotheses be explained and tested by reference to natural causes and events. Explanations of observable effects are considered to be practical and useful only when they hypothesize natural causes (i.e., specific mechanisms, not indeterminate miracles).

Methodological naturalism is the principle underlying all of modern science. Many philosophers extend this idea to all of philosophy. Science and philosophy, according to this view, are said to form a continuum. W.V. Quine, George Santayana, and other philosophers have advocated this view.

The ideas and assumptions of philosophical naturalism were first seen in the works of the Ionian pre-Socratic philosophers. One such was Thales, considered to be the father of science, as he was the first to give explanations of natural events without the use of supernatural causes. These early philosophers subscribed to principles of empirical investigation that strikingly anticipate naturalism .

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