This final chapter returns to the topic of naturalism, exploring the implications of Cognitive Pluralism for naturalism. The answer depends on the type of “naturalism” that is in question. In philosophy of science, naturalism indicates the view that philosophy of science should not proceed through a priori reasoning, but be guided by what is found in the sciences themselves. In this respect, this book has pursued a “naturalistic” approach. However, if naturalism means that the mind can be wholly accommodated in the world of nature as understood by the natural sciences, the conclusions to be drawn are antinaturalistic. Pluralism is antireductionistic. And cognitivism treats the mind as being in a special sense prior to our models of the world, including our scientific models.
Keywords: Naturalism, philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, Cognitive Pluralism, metaphysics, ontology