Alternative meaning: Nature (journal)

Nature has two related clusters of meaning:

innate character or essence ("the true nature of jealousy");
the natural world, especially in its essential form, untainted by human influence ("state of nature").

The first meaning is closer to the Latin origin, natura, meaning birth or character. The second meaning was first recorded in English in 1662.

Table of contents

1 The natural world
2 Nature versus nurture
3 The natural and the artificial
4 Related concepts
5 History of the Concept of "Nature"
6 See also

The natural world

In scale, 'nature' includes everything from the universal to the subatomic. This includes all things animal, plant, and mineral; all natural resources and events (hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes). It also includes the behaviour of living animals, and the processes associated with inanimate objects.

Nature versus nurture

In discussions about the relative importance of genetic and environmental influences on development, the nature/nurture dichotomy (see Nature_versus_nurture) is often advanced. Here both meanings of nature seem to apply: on the one hand, the environment is contrasted with the innate character of the individual in these discussions, and on the other, it is generally supposed that this character is determined by the individual's physical nature (e.g. genetic endowment).

The natural and the artificial

Nature is sometimes simply equated with the universe and all its phenomena other than mind, but more often it refers to the material world exclusive of the influence of humans and especially civilization. This presents a difficulty since humans and their civilizations are part of the material universe. The ambiguity of the boundary between the natural and the artificial animates much of art, literature and philosophy, and is closely related to the mind-body problem.

Related concepts

Natural science is the study of natural processes. All sciences deal with the natural.

"Natural philosophy" formerly named the scientific discipline now known as physics.

Natural theology straddles the disciplines of theology and philosophy of religion.

In education and related areas, the contrast "natural/artificial" can appear as " nature/nurture".

For contrasting/varying concepts, see praeternatural, unnatural and supernatural.

History of the Concept of "Nature"

Historically, things natural received short shrift from civilised (read "artificial") society until the 18th century romantics discovered the joys of the sublime and started gushing about "Nature" (as a personified, capitalised demi-god), visiting countrysides and climbing mountains. The romantic soft-spot for the natural world re-manifested itself in the late 20th century in the Green movement.