Concept in Definition ABC

The artistic, religious or philosophical currents are accompanied by the suffix ism, what does it mean movement. There are hundreds of isms and in this post we are going to deal with one of them, naturalism.

Naturalism can be understood from several perspectives. Next we are going to address three of its dimensions: the pictorial, the literary and the philosophical

In the paint

During the Baroque of the late seventeenth and early seventeenth centuries the painting is presented extolling the naturalness of reality, for which the creators use the technique of chiaroscuro that is projected in landscape scenes, in the human figure, in still lifes or in Pictures. Both Rembrandt and Van Dyck are two significant representatives of this pictorial trend.

In the literature

At the end of the 19th century, the naturalistic style emerged in literary creation. It is a current that seeks to deepen reality, which is why it is sometimes described as radical realism. Naturalistic authors address stark aspects of reality: marginalization, social dramas, and fictional characters caught up in grim aspects (such as alcoholism, prostitution, or begging).

Literary naturalism is a response to the realism of the earlier period. While the realists are optimistic and believe in the progress of humanity, the naturalists express their disappointment and a certain pessimism. It should be borne in mind that Charles Darwin's new vision of nature based on natural selection and the struggle for survival greatly influenced novelists of the late nineteenth century, who saw in Darwin's work the determinism of nature on reality (the human being has a very limited freedom, since his behavior depends on the laws of nature that act on he).

The French writer Émile Zola is the prototype of a naturalist novelist and his characters are losers, prostitutes, exploited laborers, or criminals, all trapped in circumstances extreme.

In philosophy

On philosophy Naturalism presents several features depending on the different philosophers: 1) the knowledge of reality does not depend on something supernatural (for example, the intervention of a creator God) but of the understanding of the laws of nature, 2) there is a philosophical naturalism that opposes the positivism scientific, 3) everything is explicable or reducible to natural realities and 4) the vision of nature is determined by the concept of evolution (for example, Darwin's concept of evolution of species).

Philosophical naturalism presents, in turn, several dimensions, ethical naturalism being one of the most deeply rooted conceptions in the history of the thought (Ethical naturalism is based on the idea that the morally good is identified with the natural).

Photos: iStock - BraunS / MarinaMariya