World Without Design: The Ontological Consequences of Naturalism

Michael Rea's World Without Design examines the philosophical implications of naturalism, arguing that this worldview faces severe difficulties in accommodating fundamental aspects of human experience and philosophical inquiry. The work represents a significant contribution to debates about naturalism's adequacy as a comprehensive philosophical framework, with direct implications for discussions about God's existence and the nature of reality.

Rea begins by carefully delineating what naturalism entails, distinguishing between methodological naturalism (the view that scientific methods exhaust legitimate modes of inquiry) and ontological naturalism (the thesis that only entities recognized by natural sciences exist). He argues that consistent naturalism, particularly when combined with realism about material objects, leads to deeply counterintuitive consequences. These include the inability to account for intentionality, consciousness, moral properties, and even the existence of ordinary material objects as typically conceived.

The monograph's central strategy involves demonstrating that naturalists face a dilemma: either abandon realism about material objects or accept revisionary metaphysical conclusions that undermine common sense and philosophical practice. Rea meticulously shows how standard naturalistic approaches to properties, causation, and modality generate this predicament. He examines how naturalism struggles with the problem of material constitution, arguing that naturalistic resources prove inadequate for resolving puzzles about identity and persistence.

Particularly significant is Rea's treatment of how naturalism relates to religious belief. He contends that naturalism cannot coherently accommodate design-based explanations or teleological features of reality, thus excluding theistic hypotheses a priori rather than through empirical investigation. This exclusion, Rea argues, stems not from evidence but from naturalism's methodological commitments, raising questions about whether naturalism illegitimately privileges certain explanatory frameworks.

The work engages critically with prominent naturalist philosophers including David Lewis, David Armstrong, and Jaegwon Kim, while drawing on insights from Alvin Plantinga's evolutionary argument against naturalism. Rea's approach combines analytic metaphysics with philosophy of science, demonstrating how naturalism's constraints create systematic problems across multiple philosophical domains.

World Without Design matters because it challenges the presumption that naturalism represents a default rational position. By exposing naturalism's philosophical costs and hidden commitments, Rea opens space for alternative frameworks, including theistic ones, to compete as explanatory options. The monograph thus serves as sophisticated philosophical groundwork for those questioning whether naturalistic materialism adequately captures reality's fundamental structure.