# data[].attributes.body
Between the 1830s to about 1865, American Romanticism—a literary, artistic, and philosophical movement—celebrated individualism, the use of emotions to discover the truth, nature as a means of spiritual connection, and the desire to forge a distinctively American sense of national identity.

# data[].attributes.body
In the late 19th century, a literary storm brewed on both sides of the Atlantic, birthing a movement known as Naturalism. Like a rebellious sibling to realism, Naturalism dared to strip away the layers of artifice, revealing life in its unvarnished essence. With ink as their brush and raw emotion as their canvas, Naturalist writers painted vivid portraits of humanity caught in the tumultuous embrace of nature, heredity, and circumstance. Through their tales, they whispered of the relentless dance between fate and free will, inviting readers to ponder the intricate web of existence.

We can define it as: a made of thought (religious, moral or philosophical) glorifying nature and excluding supernatural and spiritual elements close adherence to nature in art or literature, esp. (in literature) the technique, chiefly associated with Zola, used to present a naturalistic philosophy.

https://youtu.be/sFAIN1mUMwM?si=proZbvN1wxN6ihtI

# data[].attributes.body
The main characteristics are:

Individualism

Appreciating Nature

Uniqueness and Imagination

Feelings

Aspects of the supernatural

Celebrating isolation and the aesthetic beauty

# data[].attributes.headline
What are the themes of American Romanticism?

# data[].attributes.subject
What are the themes of American Romanticism?

# data[].attributes.body
It emphasizes democracy, introspection, withdrawing into oneself, and using nature as a spiritual source.

The romantic authors utilized nature as a means of escape, writing about it as a peaceful, lovely domain.

They aspired to write less formal, conversational works that reflected the shifting nature of American culture, rejecting the writing standards that they perceived as restrictive.

# data[].attributes.headline
Famous Figures in the Romanticism Movement:

# data[].attributes.subject
Famous Figures in the Romanticism Movement:

# data[].attributes.body
American Romanticism was greatly influenced by authors like Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson, and Edgar Allan Poe.

# data[].attributes.headline
How is American Romanticism different from British Romanticism?

# data[].attributes.subject
How is American Romanticism different from British Romanticism?

# data[].attributes.body
Compared to European Romanticism, which mostly created poetry, American Romanticism is distinguished by the production of more prose. American Romanticism emphasizes the vast American frontier and conveys a desire to leave the industrialized city behind in favor of a more remote and pure setting.

# data[].attributes.body
A literary subgenre of Romanticism known as "Dark Romanticism" rose to prominence between 1836 and 1840.
The central themes of Dark Romanticism are death and human weakness. According to dark romantics, sin and evil are innate in human nature.
Transcendentalism, another branch of Romanticism, gave rise to the gloomy Romantics.

Dark Romanticism's four major aspects are the human tendency toward sin and death, nature as gloomy and spiritual, and the impossibility of positive personal development.
The underlying meaning of Gothic and Dark Romantic literature is what sets them apart from one another. Dark romantics place a strong emphasis on how frail humans are.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Dark  Romanticism: Definition and Characteristics

# data[].attributes.headline
An interesting video about Edgar Allan Poe 

# data[].attributes.subject
An interesting video about Edgar Allan Poe 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why should you read Edgar Allan Poe? - Scott Peeples

# data[].attributes.body
Regionalism is a type of literature that focuses on a particular area or region. It is similar to local color, but goes into more details. Regionalist authors use a main canvey their view of the region and create an authentic representation of the setting. They explore the character's psychological traits from a broad perspective.The characters are complex and the plot is less predictable. However, sometimes the stories have a nostalgic or sentimental tone, and the author may have a role in the narrative. The ending of Regionalism it can sometimes seem contrived or overly optimistic.

# data[].attributes.body
Naturalism have developed in many ways including:

1- The swell of immigrants in the latter half of the 19th century, which led to poverty in the cities and increased

2- ﻿﻿The prominence of psychology and the theories of Sigmund Freud

3- ﻿﻿Pessimism in the wake of the Civil War and Reconstruction

4- ﻿﻿Publication of Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species

# data[].attributes.body
Naturalism has a lot of writers that was trying to view life in a positive way and value the things around them as how they were created.

There were a lot of writers as: Stephen Crane, Ambrose Bierce, ﻿﻿Jack London, ﻿﻿Edwin Arlington Robinson, Katherine Anne Porter, ﻿﻿Charlotte, Perkins Gilman And Edith Wharton, but I’m going to mention 3 writers only which are the most influential and most popular writers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
He was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer.
Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism
He is recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
An American short story writer, journalist, vett, and Civil War- His book The Devil's Dictionary was named as one of "The 100Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
A poor, self-taught worker from California, the naturalist Jack London was catapulted from poverty to fame by his first collection of stories, The Son of the Wolf (1900), set largely in the Klondike region of Alaska and the Canadian Yukon.

# data[].attributes.body
One of the most important and interesting things we the autobiographical novel Martin Eden (1909) depicts the inner stresses of the American dream as London experienced them during his meteoric rise from obscure poverty to wealth and fame.

# data[].attributes.body
The American regionalism movement appeared in the pre-Civil War era until the early 1900s. It primarily focused on rural areas and was influenced by both the Civil War and urbanization. The movement plays an important role in unifying the country after the war by fostering regional connections and discussing cultural differences. This helpe people acknowledge the progress they had made as a civilized society.

# data[].attributes.body
-"The Marble Faun" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

-"Moby-Dick or, The Whale" by Herman Melville

-"Uncle Tom’s Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe

-"The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe

# data[].attributes.body
Mark Twain, an iconic American writer, was a master of dialect who used the pen name Mark Twain instead of his real name is Samuel Longhorn Clemens. His well-known works, Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) were based on Tawin’s boyhood experiences in Missouri. Twain wrote several short stories, including "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" (1865), which is highly regarded.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
bio biography "biography channel" "mini bios" "biography television" "a&e biography" "a e biography" "a & e biography" "a and e biography" "a&e biography ful...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Biography highlights newsworthy personalities and events with compelling and surprising points-of-view, telling the true stories from some of the most accomplished non-fiction storytellers of our time.

# data[].attributes.body
"My Antonia" by Willa Cather: A novel about European immigrants on the Nebraska prairie.

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain: A classic novel about the journey of Huck Finn and Jim on the Mississippi.

”Winesburg, Ohio" by Sherwood Anderson: A collection of interconnected short stories that explore human relationships and fulfillment in a small Ohio town.

"The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck: A Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a family's migration from Oklahoma to California during the Great Depression.

# data[].attributes.body
Modernism was a literary and cultural movement of the 20th century that rejected traditional forms and focused on experimentation. It sought to express the complexity and uncertainty of the modern world, often using techniques such as stream-of-consciousness narratives and fragmented narratives. The movement had a significant impact on literature and art, and its influence can still be felt today.

# data[].attributes.body
“Literary realism is a movement that seeks to depict life through an authentic and unembellished lens. It emerged as a reaction to the dominant Romanticism of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and sought to provide readers with a genuine portrayal of society and human behavior. Romanticism celebrated imagination and nature. In contrast, realism sought to portray life more objectively and accurately. Realist writers stripped away the idealized and fantastical elements identified in Romantic literature and instead focused on presenting the world as it was.”

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374914269_REALISM_IN_LITERATURE

# data[].attributes.body
“The Civil War was devastating to America. It challenged people's sentimentalism and optimism, the driving forces behind the romantic movement. After the pain of war, romanticism felt fake, like it was offering a glimpse into an ideal world that didn't exist. Industrialization, increasing literacy rates and expanding populations were all contributing to a society that was always evolving. This led to an increased demand for literature that authentically dealt with the rapid cultural change occurring day to day in the United States. Authors, therefore, began to depict real people in real situations, reacting to the often challenging events happening in the world around them.”

https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english-literature/literary-movements/american-realism/

# data[].attributes.body
1. “Attention to detail”

“The most important aspect of American realism is that it depicts reality with close attention to detail. It is essential that the events occurring will appear plausible when compared to their time and setting. The realist writer avoids the sentimental, overly emotional prose favoured by romanticism.”

2. “Characterization”

“The characters are more important than the plot in realist literature. Much of a realist novel is often consumed by a character tackling complex moral issues and dealing with personal struggles related to broader social and political difficulties like war and government.”

3. “Social Criticism”

“Many American realist writers were interested in critiquing the conditions of their societies. Authors aimed to depict the acts of racism, prejudice, or social injustice common to their time. Specific focus was often placed on the experience of the lower classes, who were vital to the strength of the country, but lived in terrible conditions and were frequently treated poorly.”

https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english-literature/literary-movements/american-realism/

# data[].attributes.body
“William Dean Howells (1837-1920) was the first author to be credited as wholly 'realist' and is considered the father of American realism. His work revolved around middle and upper-class life, and featured a truthfulness that brought close attention to societal problems.”

“Other early, influential American realists include Samuel Clemens (better known by his pen name, Mark Twain (1835-1910), Henry James (1843-1916) and Stephen Crane (1871-1900). Mark Twain was famed for his realistic, colloquial dialogue that provided America with a new way to define its national voice.”

https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english-literature/literary-movements/american-realism/

# data[].attributes.body
“William Dean Howells, “The Rise of Silas Lapham” (1885)

The Rise of Silas Lapham follows Silas, a man chasing materialistic goals and values. He attains good fortune, but through his greedy mistakes, he falls from grace, losing his business and livelihood. Silas must begin a journey to think of others instead of himself, and better himself morally. Howells presents realistic characters in the novel, showing their individual flaws and strengths and commenting on societal issues in the process.”

“Frank Norris, “McTeague: A story of San Francisco” (1899)

The novel illustrates in brutal detail that human lives and fates are not always determined by conscious choices but by external forces.”

“Henry James, “What Maisie Knew” (1897)

The book is a scathing commentary on relationships, the dark side of human nature, and the untenable position in which children are often placed.”

https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english-literature/literary-movements/american-realism/

https://www.supersummary.com/realism/

# data[].attributes.body
The literature of American regionalism was influenced by several factors, including Southwestern Humor, Down East Humor, and realism. Southwestern humor was characterized by tall tales and coarse language, while Down East Humor focused on the Northeast region and used political satire. Realism, on the other hand, portrayed the world objectively and criticized outdated values and beliefs.

# data[].attributes.body
F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" (1925) is a novel that epitomises modern American literature. It deals with the themes of wealth, romance and the American dream, all set in the Jazz Age.

"The Turtle" from The Grapes of Wrath is a chapter from Steinbeck's novel that uses a turtle crossing a highway as a metaphor for resilience and survival.

"The Waste Land" (1922) by T.S. Eliot is considered one of the most important works of modernist poetry. It reflects the shattered and disillusioned society after the First World War and uses a variety of cultural and literary allusions.

"A Rose for Emily" is a famous short story by William Faulkner that explores the complexities of a woman's life in the changing South. In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Faulkner reflects on the power of literature and its ability to shape society.

Ernest Hemingway's "In Another Country" is a short story about the experiences of wounded soldiers and the themes of war, identity and loss. His work "The Sun Also Rises" (1926) is a novel that captures the feeling of aimlessness and disillusionment.

# data[].attributes.body
"Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse" is a notable example of modernist literature that effectively explores themes such as subjectivity, time, and human relationships through her unique stream-of-consciousness storytelling technique. The book was first published in 1927 and has had a significant impact on American modernist literature due to Woolf's powerful writing style."

# data[].attributes.headline
One of the most famous poets in American history

# data[].attributes.subject
One of the most famous poets in American history

# data[].attributes.body
Robert Frost, an American modernist poet, is one of the most famous poets in American history. Frost's first published poem, "My Butterfly"," appeared in 1894. Frost's first book of poetry was published when he was 38 years old. He became friends with Ezra Pound and Edward Thomas, two notable poets of the time. Frost worked as a teacher and was honoured with many awards, including four Pulitzer Prizes. One of his most notable moments was reciting a poem at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy.

# data[].attributes.body
1- Determinism:

Determinism is basically the opposite of the notion of free will. For determinism, the idea that individual characters have a direct influence on the course of their lives is supplanted by a focus on nature or fate. Human beings are living in a natural environment like animals. They can react toward the exterior and interior forces but they are helpless before these forces (Lin Xianghua, 1989, p.528). Often, a naturalist author will lead the reader to believe that a character's fate has been pre-determined, usually by heredity and environmental factors, that the destiny of humanity is misery in life and oblivion in death and that he/she can do nothing about it.

2- Objectivism:

The author often tries to maintain a tone that will be experienced as 'objective.' The author presents himself or herself as an objective observer, similar to a scientist taking note of what he or she sees. Of course, no human being can ever be truly objective, but by detaching the narrator from the story he or she tells, an author can achieve objectivity. Also, an author will sometimes achieve detachment by creating nameless characters (strictly speaking, this is more common among modernists such as Ernest Hemingway). This puts the focus more on the plot and what happens to the character, rather than the characters themselves.

3- Pessimism:

Very often, one or more characters will continue to repeat one line or phrase that tends to have a pessimistic connotation, sometimes emphasizing the inevitability of death. Naturalistic works often include uncouth or sordid subject matter, for example, Emile Zola’s works had a frankness about sexuality along with a pervasive pessimism. Naturalistic works exposed the dark harshness of life, including poverty, racism, sex, prejudice, disease, prostitution, and filth.

4- a surprising twist at the end of the story:

Equally, there tends to be in naturalist novels and stories a strong sense that nature is indifferent to human struggle.

# data[].attributes.body
Since naturalism is a subgenre of realism, it’s easy to get the two confused. However, the two have a few distinct differences.

Realism depicts real conditions, such as chronicling the lives of middle-class workers. It appeals to the readers’ emotions to see real life in action.

Naturalism shows how humans are dictated by their behaviors and environment. Natural forces of both society and heredity govern the world, and only the strongest will survive.

However, it should be noted that a few authors were considered both naturalists and realists such as John Steinbeck and William Faulkner. It’s all about the way you look at it and how you view everything you see.

# data[].attributes.headline
A video explaining the differences between naturalism and realism.

# data[].attributes.subject
A video explaining the differences between naturalism and realism.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What's the Difference Between Realism & Naturalism? | ARTiculations

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Browse > Home / Atheism / The Big Problems with Naturalism

When skeptics, agnostics, and atheists oppose theists, Christians, and, specifically, Catholics, they frequently do so from the perspective of philosophical naturalism. This article will challenge the rational credibility of naturalism.

Naturalism has historical roots in early Pre-Socratic Greek philosophers: Thales, Anaximander, and Anaxagoras. These thinkers are sometimes called "naïve materialists," because they espouse a purely material world-without explicitly rejecting a spiritual one. Later, Leucippus and Democritus elaborated "atomism," the claim that all reality is composed solely of atoms and the void. But a "detour" into dualistic worldviews then took place through thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle, the Neo-Platonists, the Scholastics (including St. Thomas Aquinas), and early modern philosophers, such as Descartes. Naturalism re-emerged by the time of Baron d'Holbach (eighteenth century) whose work has been called "the culmination of French materialism and atheism," as epitomized in his book, The System of Nature.

Nineteenth century atheistic materialism has largely been replaced today by "metaphysical naturalism," which affirms a purely natural world, largely based on natural science, while clearly rejecting God and other spiritual entities.

There is also "methodological naturalism," which describes natural science's default expectation that all events are the result of physical forces or entities. While methodological naturalism operates in much the same manner as metaphysical naturalism, it makes no ontological commitments as to whether physical reality is all that exists, or not.

Metaphysical Naturalism's Assumptions

Naturalism, a science-based take on reality, makes many related claims, including: (1) there is an objective extramental universe shared by all rational observers, (2) the universe is governed by uniform natural laws that make it orderly and comprehensible, (3) such orderly reality can be discovered through scientific observation and experimentation, (4) nature is in principle rationally intelligible, (5) mental entities, such as theories, mathematics, ethical values, and so forth, reduce to, or emerge from, neural activities in the brain, (6) the universe itself is its own ultimate explanation of its existence and operations, (7) nature operates as a blind force acting according to fixed laws with no purpose, (8) complex things, such as minds and living organisms, are composed of simpler constituents that are reducible to ultimate particles obeying physical laws, (9) reason itself is the product of an undersigned process with no intrinsic relation to truth (yet, naturalism is claimed to be true), (10) all things are either physical in nature, or else, depend upon or emerge from physical entities. (Of course, emergentism violates the principle of causality by assuming that you can get being from non-being.)

While the first four of these claims are necessary premises of natural science, the remainder consists of ontological philosophical claims about the world, which-although they talk about the same physical entities that science deals with-do not, as purely philosophical assertions, derive any authority from natural science. Much more importantly, naturalism itself derives most of its seeming authority from natural science. The problem is that, while natural science need not justify its own assumed premises - since no science demonstrates its own starting points, any philosophy, such as naturalism, relying on natural science must itself justify those same scientific assumptions, or else, that philosophy itself relies on mere assumptions.

This means that all of the above claims are either mere assumption, or else, require philosophical demonstrations which are not directly attempted by naturalists. Rather, the last six of the above claims are simply ontological assertions hiding behind a façade of scientific verbiage. They rely on the philosophy of naturalism, which presents them as just-so stories that defy disproof, but for which naturalism itself offers no direct scientific demonstration that is independent of philosophical assumptions.

These just-so stories appear scientific, but hide their naturalistic assumptions. For example, claims of (1) abiogenesis (which assumes that life can arise unaided from non-life), (2) nature without purpose, (3) mental entities reducing to the brain, (4) complex structures arising from fundamental particles, (5) reason coming from an undersigned process, and (6) the universe explaining its own existence - all these claims rely on the blatantly philosophical assumptions that (1) everything is merely physical and (2) no non-material intellectual agent exists to produce these observable effects. Hence, naturalism argues, if these higher effects occur, blind material nature must have somehow produced them. Logical, if and only if, you beg the question by assuming that naturalism is true in the first place! So, too, is the assumption that all things are physical or physically dependent.

Of the first four claims, it is true that science presupposes them - and properly so, since that is simply the scientific method, which, as science, but not philosophy, is perfectly valid. Yet, the necessary scientific assumptions that (1) an extramental universe exists that (2) is governed by natural laws, which (3) can be discovered and understood by reason through (4) using observation and experimentation - while perfectly proper to natural science - are nonetheless clearly not facts that the scientific method itself can prove. Rather, these assertions are the undemonstrated intellectual foundations upon which the methodology of natural science rests. These are, in fact, philosophical assumptions.

Finally, while natural science necessarily operates on the principle that an extramental world really exists and we can directly observe it, this principle - when combined with naturalism's physicalist assumption, plunges naturalism into an epistemological quagmire from which it cannot be rescued - as will be demonstrated now in detail.

Naturalism's Version of Extramental Realism

Naturalism assumes extramental realism, which is the philosophical claim that a real physical world exists independently of our consciousness of it. And yet, its own materialist account of sense perception logically implies the conclusion that all we really know are the internal states of our brains. Because the entire process of perception is assumed to entail exclusively material/physical components, this leads to the "causal theory of perception," which means, for example, that sight entails light coming from an external object, hitting the retina in the eye, being conveyed as nerve impulses by the optic nerve to the occipital part of the brain, where, it is naturally assumed, vision actually takes place.
From this logical sequence follows the absurd, but necessary, inference that what is known is no longer the actual external object, but simply some "neural pattern" internal to the brain.
This latter inference would appear to make natural science merely a description of the internal rules that govern brain states, and yet, the existence of a real external world is presupposed in order to derive the very physical model whereby is inferred that all we really know is internal brain states!

Naturalism assumes a principle of causality, since no realist account of the extramental world can be given unless we presuppose, gratuitously, that external events somehow impact our sensory faculties so as to give an essentially accurate account of the external physical world. And yet, naturalists are inherently wary of metaphysical principles, especially causality.
Most importantly, to know that the external object somehow properly corresponds to the internal image we must know directly both the image and the external object itself - for purposes of comparison, which contradicts the inference that all we directly know is the internal image.
Naturalism must also presume the validity of extramental physical laws and mechanisms in order to derive the biological description of the way the senses physically function so as to infer that what we really know is changes inside the brain, instead of extramental objects directly themselves, such as the tree outside my window.

All this entails an ongoing ambivalent epistemology, wherein the naturalist cannot decide whether he really knows the tree outside his window, or merely an image of it inside his head. If he follows the physiological/optical pathway from the external tree to the inside of his brain, he must deny direct knowledge of the tree, and thus, of the whole external world. But if he does not directly know the external world, how then does he develop the scientific model that leads him to deny his immediate knowledge of the external world?

Implicit in the previous assumption is the problem of how does the naturalist even know that the external world exists at all - assuming we never actually have direct knowledge of it and all our scientific knowledge appears merely to be studying the relationships of neural patterns inside the brain?

If naturalism is actually based on so many assumptions, why do naturalists so firmly believe in its essential truth, or at least, that it is the only rational, sane way to approach reality - complete with immense confidence that nothing spiritual or metaphysical exists? The standard defense is that science has proven itself, and thus, indirectly, the value of a naturalistic perspective- because science works. It predicts experimental results which actually happen. And it makes phenomenal progress in understanding the extramental world. Conversely, they point out, religion and philosophy make no empirically verifiable predictions - at least none that skepticism cannot challenge.

Still, we don't know if natural science actually works unless we can verify that the external world actually mirrors the claims of scientific progress. But naturalism merely assumes the existence of that world. As I have demonstrated elsewhere, naturalism's inherently physicalist ontology necessarily leads to a subjectivist epistemology. Unless the naturalist assumes the world is extramental, all his "proofs for naturalism" cannot be known to apply to anything except the inner consistency of his own brain patterns - that "brain," which he can only know to exist itself by assuming that the external world exists.
This is circular reasoning in the extreme.
Is There a Better Alternative?

All truth claims require substantiating reasons. Proof requires evidence-some prior, more certain fact or facts from which a claim is deduced in valid logical form. If someone gives no reasons for his claims, no one will believe him - and rightly so.

Surprising to many, Aristotle defined the original meaning of "science." He insisted that, if you really know what you are talking about, that means that you know something is true, you know why it is true, and you know why it cannot be otherwise. This fulfills the Greek meaning of " epistêmê" as absolutely certain knowledge. In Latin derivation, we call it "science," from the word, " scire," meaning "to know." From this comes " scientia"-in English, "science." Not experimental science, but science as meaning objectively sure knowledge. Aristotle defined science as "certain knowledge through causes." ( Remember that experimental science itself ultimately turns out to be based on certain assumptions!)

The reasoning process through which one comes to a "scientific" Aristotelian conclusion is called the "scientific syllogism," which epitomizes "certain knowledge through causes." The "causes" are the premises, which are prior and better known than the conclusion, and from which, assuming a logically valid inference, the conclusion necessarily follows - since the knowledge of the premises, combined with a valid deduction, causes our certitude of the truth of the conclusion.

But then, how do we know the truth of the prior premises? What if they need to be proven as well? Well, if they need proving, then we must prove them by the same logical process, that is, by finding certain prior premises from which these premises needing proof are validly derived.

The "Assumed vs. Proven Pseudo-Dilemma"

A seeming dilemma now appears. Either prior premises are themselves proven, or else, they are merely assumed. Could one regress to infinity in the taking of prior premises? Aristotle rightly says, "No." In the practical order, since reasoning takes some time, if you had to go to infinity in establishing prior premises, the mind could never traverse the infinite time it would take to reach a conclusion!

Thus, we must come finally to premises that are not themselves proven - which, then, it would appear, "proves" they must be assumed. Does Aristotle thus wind up mired in assumptions-just like the naturalist?

Not at all. Rather, insists Aristotle, what this logic actually demonstrates is that, since one cannot go to infinity in the taking of prior premises, we must come to first premises which - though they are not proven- neither are they merely assumed. They must, somehow, be immediately evident-evident in themselves.

Now a truth can be made evident by prior premises, as shown above. But it can also be "evident in itself," that is, if it is somehow immediately evident. There are two ways in which a statement can be evident in itself: (1) if it is immediately evident to the senses, or (2), if it is a self-evident, metaphysical universal first principle of being.

But, didn't Descartes prove that the starting point of all knowledge is just ideas or images in the mind? Isn't that all we first know in sensation? Descartes did say just that when he posited his " Cogito." Cogito, ergo sum. I think, therefore, I am. For Descartes, "thought," as an internal, subjective experience, is the first object of cognition. But what he missed is that extramental reality is just as immediately evident as thought itself. In fact, it is logically prior to thought, since the thought or idea or image is but a secondary reflection of the object as externally encountered.

If I open my door and see a man-eating tiger about to pounce upon me, I have no doubt about its given immediacy as an extramental object. It is only when I close the door and then recall an image of the tiger that I can doubt the reality of the tiger itself. But, curiously, I cannot doubt having an image or idea of the tiger when I am actually experiencing it as an intramental object. Should I reopen the door, the tiger's extramental reality would again be undeniably evident.
The perfectly licit and proper methodology of natural science begins by admitting that extramentally observed things are real. But while science observes solely physical reality, it does not logically follow from this that only physical things can exist - as naturalism gratuitously claims.
A correct description of cognition shows that we have the immediate knowledge of external reality that both natural science and philosophy require. Doubtless, this is the basis for the naturalist's instinctive certitude that an external universe of physical objects is real.
The naturalist's problem is that his own gratuitously-assumed physicalism leads him to the absurd inference that all he really knows are images inside his brain - a conclusion that contradicts his own initial direct experience!
Metaphysical First Principles of Being

But, what about metaphysical first principles of being? How do we know that they are true, self-evident, and universally applicable?

From the first time the human intellect encounters any reality whatever in sensation, it forms a concept of being. This concept is universal since it applies to all being, not just some restricted form of it. The mind immediately predicates being of itself and forms the self-evident principle of identity: being is being. Equally immediately self-evident is the negation: non-being is not being. From these, with equal certitude, is formed the principle of non-contradiction: being cannot both be and not be (at the same time and in the same respect).

The principle of non-contradiction is so evident that no one can ever deny it without rendering his own utterance or thought utterly incoherent. While there are other self-evident first principles, it suffices to focus solely on this most evident universal first principle, since all naturalists must use it in every thought and every statement, but none can adequately explain where it comes from within the schema of naturalism.

Some naturalists may claim that the non-contradiction principle is merely a rule of logic. But, even the mere positing of a logical rule presupposes the principle itself, since the intelligibility of any rule would be vitiated if its contradictory could simultaneously be affirmed. The principle is simply "there," and every honest intellect is forced to affirm it in the very act of understanding it. Naturalism lacks the epistemic tools to defend the principle; Thomism discovers it comfortably within its metaphysics of being, as I have shown elsewhere.

Moreover, unlike other universals, the concept of being applies to all possible beings, since while there can be beings that are not, say, trees, there can never be an actual tree that is not a being. Thus, while our knowledge of chickens holds good for all possible chickens, there might be a being that is not a chicken - resulting in our knowledge of chicken-ness not applying to it. But there can never be a being that is not a being, and thus, our concept of being applies to all possible beings. Hence, the principle of being, known as "non-contradiction," applies to all possible beings and is truly transcendental.

The philosophy of naturalism rests ultimately on certain gratuitous assumptions, whereas, Aristotelian-Thomistic sciences are grounded on premises which are known with immediate certitude, by being either (1) immediately-given knowledge of extramental objects, or (2) self-evident first principles of existential metaphysics.

Given its evident epistemological inconsistency and ungrounded assumptions, does not naturalism itself merit skepticism?

Note: Our goal is to cultivate serious and respectful dialogue. While it's OK to disagree-even encouraged!-any snarky, offensive, or off-topic comments will be deleted. Before commenting please read the Commenting Rules and Tips. If you're having trouble commenting, read the Commenting Instructions.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When skeptics, agnostics, and atheists oppose theists, Christians, and, specifically, Catholics, they frequently do so from the perspective of philosophical naturalism. This article will challenge the rational credibility of naturalism. Naturalism has historical roots in early Pre-Socratic Greek

# data[].attributes.body
Transcendentalism is a 19th-century school of American theological and philosophical thought that combined respect for nature and self-sufficiency with elements of Unitarianism and German Romanticism. Writer Ralph Waldo Emerson was the primary practitioner of the movement, which existed loosely in Massachusetts in the early 1800s before becoming an organised group in the 1830s.

Transcendentalists believed that humanity was Godlike and saw the world in which only good existed. They chose to focus on the positive rather than evil & darkness. Also, proposes a belief in a higher reality than that found in sense experience or in a higher kind of knowledge than that achieved by human reason. They also suggests that every individual is capable of discovering this higher truth on his or her own, through intuition.

# data[].attributes.body
Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement that was developing by the late 1820s and '30s in the Eastern region of the United States as a protest against the general state of intellectualism and spirituality.

The doctrine of the Unitarian church as taught at Harvard Divinity School was of particular concern.

Among the transcendentalists' core beliefs was the inherent goodness of both people and nature. They believe that society and its institutions-particularly organized religion and political parties-ultimately corrupt the purity of the individual.

They have faith that people are at their best when truly "self-reliant" and independent.

"Self-reliant" differs from the traditional usage of the word, however, and refers mainly to a fierce intellectual independence that believed itself capable of generating completely original insights with as little deference paid to past masters as possible.

# data[].attributes.body
Transcendentalist writers expressed semi-religious feelings toward nature, where they saw a direct connection between the universe & the individual soul. Also, divinity permeated all objects, animate or inanimate. The purpose of human life was union with the "Oversoul" a sort of convergence of the individual, God and Nature.

# data[].attributes.body
1)Ralph Waldo Emerson

- "Self-Reliance" 1841

2)Henry David Thoreau

- Walden 1854

- "Civil Disobedience"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Art of Trusting One's Self - The Philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson

# data[].attributes.headline
Thoreau book: "Walden" or "Life in the Woods"

# data[].attributes.subject
Thoreau book: "Walden" or "Life in the Woods"

# data[].attributes.body
Thoreau criticized the direction in which civilization was going, particularly commercialization:

"To have done anything just for

money is to have been truly idle."

Walden is more than just an exercise in back-to-nature bravery. It’s a spiritual quest to find universal truth in the particular, to regain personal integrity and freedom through simple living, and to search for nothing less than the meaning of life.

# data[].attributes.body
Influenced individuals such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez.

It was written after Thoreau spent a night in jail after refusing to pay a poll tax.

Not to forget,Thoreau refused to pay the $1.50 tax because the revenues went to the government which was allowing slavery to continue and which was waging an unjust war against Mexico.

# data[].attributes.headline
Explanation video of the Civil Disobedience:

# data[].attributes.subject
Explanation video of the Civil Disobedience:

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english-literature/american-literary-movements/dark-romanticism/#:~:text=Dark%20Romanticism%20is%20an%20American%20literary%20movement%20that%20focuses%20on,to%20sin%20and%20self%2Ddestruction.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-jefferson-english102/chapter/the-romantic-period-1820-1860-essayists-and-poets-american-literature-i/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A discourse on Romanticism might appear to be out of place when discussing American history. The philosophy is neither American in origin, nor is traditionally associated with the country. Romanticism was a philosophical movement from the early nineteenth century that "arose among European intellectuals such as Johann Goethe and Thomas Carlyle" that sought to idealize the natural world amidst a rapidly industrializing continent. Europe was in the midst of an economic system that encouraged the growth of urban centers and factories, and Romantics, who included artists, writers, and philosophers, looked to idealize and portray the beauty of a natural world that seemed to be on the verge of destruction from industrial capitalism.

In the United States, Romanticism was similarly born out of a desire to preserve the beauty of a pristine, wondrous North American continent before its natural resources succumbed to the exploitation and destruction that was inherent to sustaining country's capitalist economy. However, artists and elites additionally repurposed Romanticism as an expression of American pride and superiority. Without the vast legacy of artistic and sociopolitical achievements that Europe appropriated for nationalistic pride, Americans looked to the one thing the Continent lacked - the promise of a limitless natural environment on a vast scale - to create a sense of patriotism for the up-and-coming nation.

Romanticism's philosophy encompasses two distinct concepts of natural beauty: sublimity and picturesqueness. Sublimity refers to the landscape's ability to overwhelm the body with emotion by reflecting nature's violence and terror, to "excite a vision of the Divine Creation." In contrast, picturesqueness embodies the landscape's subtlety and roughness, referring to its inconsistency and variation "in color and shading." From the late 1700s to the early 1800s, European writers and travelers looked for qualities of sublimity and picturesqueness when looking at the natural world. As these concepts were worked into mainstream European landscape theory, writers began to describe the American landscape with romanticized terminology, with attention specifically paid to the Hudson Valley

In the early 1800s, Romanticism became worked into mainstream American culture, deviating from its European roots and appropriated to bolster the new country's sense of national pride. "Artists and newspaper editors" wrote to the American public and urged them "to dwell upon the richness and uniqueness of the Hudson." Ralph Waldo Emerson postulated that the vastness of America's landscape needed to be appreciated for its beauty just as much as it was appreciated for economic development, and that the populace must "appreciate the beauty in nature" so development could coexist with nature. Author and socialist Albert Brisbane wrote that Americans needed to look to nature for intellectual growth and inspiration that was being stifled in factories, where "strength of body and mind, the desire for any intellectual pursuit...is gone."

Beginning in 1825, scenic areas in the northeastern United States experienced increased tourism, as "an awareness of the aesthetic value of natural landscape...bloomed" and resorts and estates were developed. To paraphrase a foreign traveler in 1847, "the Hudson...had become the focal point not only of national historical and commercial pride, but of poetic and literary achievement as well." Beginning in the 1820s, the Hudson River School of painting attracted landscape artists like Thomas Cole, Asher Brown Durand, and Frederic Church to the Hudson Valley to capture sublimity and picturesqueness in paintings that, to this day, exemplify the region. These painters were supported by a cultural elite from New York and the surrounding area, because of "their strivings for cultural nationalism and an air of intellectual cosmopolitanism."

Beyond just these motivations, Romanticism's hold in America and the Hudson Valley was rooted in an anxiety about the incoming dangers of economic development and industrialization. From 1825 to the Civil War, "territorial annexation...proliferation of the steamboat, and the rapid growth of cityscapes" were rampant, and there was fear that all the unlimited growth and vice of New York City would extend into the Hudson Valley, exemplified in the Hudson Valley routeway and the Erie Canal.

American writers and painters of the Romantic era were pessimistic about Manifest Destiny's all-consuming march towards the West, and later, the growth and industrialization of Mid-Atlantic cities. Writers like William Gilpin and Walt Whitman waxed poetic about the "course of Empire" that was causing the vice-ridden and ugly cities to unsustainably sprawl towards the countryside. The Hudson River School's beautiful paintings must be understood in the context of a pre-Civil War era of massive "territorial annexation...and national aggrandizement." Thomas Cole's bucolic and grandiose characterizations of rural environments were meant to contrast with his resentment and pessimism towards the evils associated with New York City and its attendant developments. We will see later that these same anxieties about the spread of human development and economic growth continued to be felt in the Hudson Valley well past the 1800s and into the twentieth century, spurring attempts to romanticize both the past and the natural landscape to quell these fears.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A discourse on Romanticism might appear to be out of place when discussing American history. The philosophy is neither American in origin, nor is traditionally associated with the country. Romanticism was a philosophical movement from the early nineteenth century that "arose among European intellectuals such as Johann Goethe and Thomas Carlyle" that sought to idealize the natural world amidst a rapidly industrializing continent.

# data[].attributes.body
Multicultural literature is broadly defined as literature that “incorporates nationality, ethnicity, class, gender, religion, disability, age, family status, geographic difference, linguistic variation, and any other possible differences from the mainstream culture.

It’s mainly centered around people of color From different cultural groups

# data[].attributes.body
Written by Korean American writer min Jin Lee and Published in 2017, Pachinko is an epic historical fiction novel following a Korean family who immigrates to Japan. The story features an ensemble of characters who encounter racism, discrimination, stereotyping, and other aspects of the 20th-century Korean experience of Japan.

Written by African American writer Octavia E butler , Kindred examines issues of race and gender, the dynamics of hierarchal power, and the possibility of a future based on social equality. Kindred is about Dana, an African American woman who finds herself time travelling involuntarily to Maryland in the early nineteenth century. It is not explained how or why this happen to her, The novel is about her experience of slavery in the past.

Written by Mexican American writer Sandra cisneros “The House on Mango Street" is about finding identity and a sense of belonging. Esperanza is a female coming of age in a man's world, and not only does she have to deal with men's advance's in her own community, but she also has to face prejudice from the outside as a Mexican American.

Written by Native American writer Louise Erdrich , The Round House by Louise Erdrich is a powerful novel that delves into the story of a Native American boy seeking justice for his mother's attack. It explores themes of identity, family, and the complexities of the legal system.

# data[].attributes.headline
An interesting video about multiculturalism 

# data[].attributes.subject
An interesting video about multiculturalism 

# data[].attributes.headline
Why is multicultural literature important?

# data[].attributes.subject
Why is multicultural literature important?

# data[].attributes.body
Multicultural literature serves as a powerful tool in enabling students to gain a better understanding of both their own culture and the cultures of others. Through this deeper knowledge, relationships can be strengthened, bridging the gap between students from diverse cultural backgrounds (Hseu & Hetzel, 2000).

# data[].attributes.body
assumes that various immigrant groups will tend to “melt together,” abandoning their individual cultures and eventually becoming fully assimilated into the predominant society.

# data[].attributes.body
https://libguides.mtaloy.edu/c.php?g=1065318&p=7838700#:~:text=Reading%20this%20type%20of%20fiction,oversimplified%20or%20based%20upon%20generalizations

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Multicultural literature is broadly defined in this study as literature that "incorporates nationality, ethnicity, class, gender, religion, disability, age, sexual orientation, family status, geographic difference, linguistic variation, and any other possible differences from the mainstream culture.

Creating Spaces for Critical Literacy for Bilingual Learners: Korean Kindergartners' Discussions About Race and Gender

So Jung Kim (University of Texas at El Paso, USA)

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-3955-1.ch002

With heightened emphasis on critical literacy pedagogies, attention to critical literacy for young children (CLYC) has rapidly increased. Yet, there is a paucity of studies examining CLYC in bilingual settings, particularly in Pre-K contexts. Utilizing a qualitative case study design, the current study examined how early critical literacy can be implemented as a medium to help young bilinguals critique texts and develop critical perspectives about race and gender. The study was conducted in a kindergarten classroom at the Korean Language School in a Midwestern city in the US. The data were collected over a semester using multiple collection sources including audio/video recordings, observational field notes, interviews, and children's artifacts. Findings suggest the potential of early critical literacy practices in bilingual contexts to open critical conversations about race and gender with young children. The study also provides teachers with tips on how to create supportive literary environments for young bilingual children.

Literature that highlights multicultural themes and strives to tolerance between different people.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is Multicultural Literature? Definition of Multicultural Literature: Multicultural literature is broadly defined in this study as literature that "incorporates nationality, ethnicity, class, gender, religion, disability, age, sexual orientation, family status, geographic difference, linguistic variation, and any other possible differences from the mainstream culture.