As a broad picture of the cosmos, the naturalistic-scientific world view underlies modern technological civilization itself. And yet it faces numerous cultural competitors. Paranormalists and antinaturalists maintain that we must go beyond the concepts and methods of science to probe transcendental realms beyond the normal or natural world. The paranormal and antinaturalist paradigm, on the contrary, maintains that some things are "unknown" or "unknowable" and transcend the methods of objective scientific inquiry. They hold "the doctrine of two truths": the natural world is amenable to reason and experience, but the deeper reality of the supernatural spiritual universe is allegedly known only by faith and intuition. Naturalists are never willing to abandon their search for causal explanations; spiritualist-paranormalists are content to invoke occult explanations. Theists have heralded their faith in a mysterious sacred reality beyond; naturalists have chosen to focus on understanding this world and our life within it.

Many scholars in the humanities and philosophy today offer highly sophisticated critiques, claiming that there are no possible standards of objectivity or meaning, that it is never possible to develop reliable knowledge, and that science is simply one "mythic narrative" among others. The postmodernists have attacked the Enlightenment, and they question any effort to progressively improve the human condition by means of scientific knowledge. Subjectivists maintain that all knowledge is irremediably private and that no claim to truth is any more warranted than any other. In the name of tolerance they insist that any one truth or virtue is as good as any other.

The naturalistic picture of the cosmos is based upon converging lines of inquiry of many scientific disciplines. What are its main outlines?

First, mass/energy and physical/chemical laws are in some sense the basic building blocks of the physical universe. This allows us to develop concepts and hypotheses at various levels of inquiry -- from the birth and death of galaxies, star systems, planets, and moons to the evolution of life on this planet and possibly elsewhere.

Second, the universe is undergoing processes of evolutionary change.

Third, Darwinian theories of evolution -- natural selection, differential reproduction, genetic mutation, adaptation, etc. -- provide more reliable explanations of the biosphere than those of creationists.

Fourth, the human species is part of nature; there is no evidence for a mind-body dualism.

Fifth, the claim that a separable "spirit" or "soul" has been reincarnated or that it will achieve immortality after the death of the body is unsupported by adequate evidence.

Sixth, human civilization and culture demonstrate the courageous efforts of human beings to adapt to challenges posed in the natural and social environment. This includes the progressive development of reason and science and technology in order to realize and enhance human purposes and values.