Naturalism and Baruch Spinoza

In philosophy, Naturalism is the idea that only natural laws and forces (as opposed to supernatural ones) operate in the universe.  Philosophers often treat Naturalism as equivalent to Materialism.  Western Naturalism originated in ancient Greek philosophy. The early pre-Socratic philosophers, because they investigated natural causes, often excluding any role for gods in the creation or operation of the world. This eventually led to fully developed systems of philosophy such as Epicureanism, which sought to explain everything that exists as the result of atoms falling and swirling in a void.

The philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was born in Amsterdam and lived in the Dutch Republic, where he worked as a lens grinder.  In 1655-56, He was expelled from the Jewish religious community, but his love of philosophy brought him a small but dedicated circle of supporters.

In his book Ethics, (1665) Spinoza was one of the first thinkers to argue that the Universe comes not from an anthropomorphic super-person, nor from a supremely intelligent “Mind,” but from something that is abstract and impersonal. Spinoza re-defined “God” as a singular self-subsistent “Natura” (Nature) or “Substantia” (Substance). He wrote that Natura is absolutely infinite, self-caused, and eternal; and it causes the infinite number of forms and attributes that we see around us. He regarded both physical matter and thought as derivative forms of Natura. 

I agree. But rather than describing God or Nature as a basic “substance,” I think it is the set of Interrelated Creative Processes that work on and with substances by channeling energy into and through creative steps. These Processes include Emergence, Evolution, Innovation, Complexity, and many more. 

Theists challenge the idea that Nature contains all of reality; however, some theists hold that natural laws may be viewed as secondary causes employed by God or by Gods. Pantheists believe that Nature is identical with divinity (but usually do not recognizing a personal, personified, anthropomorphic God). In the Far East, Naturalism was the foundation of two out of six orthodox schools and one heterodox school of Hinduism.  

(Note: Main source is from, and links are to, Wikipedia.)
   — J.X. Mason