Philosophical naturalism, according to which philosophy is continuous with the natural sciences, has dominated the Western academy for well over a century, but Michael Rea claims that it is without rational foundation. Rea argues compellingly to the surprising conclusion that naturalists are committed to rejecting realism about material objects, materialism, and perhaps realism about other minds. "World Without Design is filled with excellent summaries of positions and philosophers and enough provocative argumentation to incite even the most naturalistically minded. It was a pleasure to read!  ~ Christian Scholar’s Review • "Rea’s is a dense and closely argued book, illustrating the convergence of philosophy of religion and sophisticated metaphysics and representative of the best of Christian philosophy today." ~ Philosophia Christi

Table of Contents

• • 1    Introduction    1
• Pt. I Naturalism
  • 2    Pillars of the tradition    21
  • 3    Naturalism characterized    50
• Pt. II Ontology
  • 4    The discovery problem    77
  • 5    Proper function    108
  • 6    Pragmatic arguments    128
  • 7    What price antirealism?    158
• Pt. III Alternatives
  • 8    Intuitionism    173
  • 9    Supernaturalism    212