naturalism

From natural +‎ -ism. Compare French naturalisme.

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naturalism (countable and uncountable, plural naturalisms)

1. A state of nature; conformity to nature.
2. The doctrine that denies a supernatural agency in the miracles and revelations recorded in religious texts and in spiritual influences.
3. (philosophy) Any system of philosophy which refers the phenomena of nature as a blind force or forces acting necessarily or according to fixed laws, excluding origination or direction by a will.
4. (philosophy) A doctrine which denies a strong separation between scientific and philosophic methodologies and/or topics
5. (art) A movement in theatre, film, and literature that seeks to replicate a believable everyday reality, as opposed to such movements as romanticism, surrealism, or abstract art, in which subjects may receive highly symbolic or idealistic treatment.
   • 1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete, page 21:

     More perfect than all in design and technique is a relief of a goat suckling her young, characterised, as it is, not only by naturalism, but also, as Mr. Evans claims, "by a certain ideal dignity and balance."

6. (nonstandard) naturism, nudism, social nudity.
   • 2002, Ishvara, Oneness in Living: Kundalini Yoga, the Spiritual Path, and the Intentional Community, page 133:

     In most of the world nudity is prohibited. Where it is not, such as where "Nudism" and "Naturalism" prevails, it is usually the main thing going on.

   • 3 December 2002, Corey Michaels, “Area 51 Shocker”, in Weekly World News:

     "In the early 1950s, naturalism was seriously studied by the U.S. military, the concept being that exercising in the nude, as the ancient Greek generals did, was good for both the body and the mind," Seacrest reveals.

   • 2013, Yunxiang Gao, Sporting Gender: Women Athletes and Celebrity-Making during China's National Crisis, 1931–45:

     Besides progressive trends from the West, defenders of naturalism also called attention to "primitive" minorities who, like innocent children, were construed as effortless practitioners of naturalism with physical strength and beauty.

7. (politics, law) The belief in natural law.

• Referring to nudism or naturism as naturalism has been considered an error for several decades.

• naturalist

• “naturalism”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

• "naturalism" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 216.

Borrowed from French naturalisme. By surface analysis, natural +‎ -ism.

naturalism n (uncountable)

1. naturalism