Herder and Naturalism: Philosophy, History, Language, Aesthetics, Religion

Johann Gottfried Herder did not himself use the term "naturalism", which only appears in the later nineteenth century, but scholars now widely agree that its spirit and intent characterize his thought as a whole. Herder sought to provide an account of human beings that squarely places them in nature. Even though he hastens to clarify that "nature is God in all his works", nature is not to be understood according to divine interventionist principles but rather according to its own immanent p...