New book illuminates naturalism and philosophy's science connection

Philosophers who call themselves naturalists want to make philosophy more scientific.

But the big problem with a lot of 'naturalised' philosophy is that philosophers have simplistic views about the methods of science and the significance of scientific results, UCT scholar and philosopher Dr Jack Ritchie argues in his new book, Understanding Naturalism.

"The general idea of naturalism, that philosophers should learn from science, is good, but it has not been carried out properly," Ritchie says.