The Philosophical Implications of Neo-Darwinian Naturalism in Explaining the Meaning of Life: An Assessment of John Cottingham's Critiques

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1 university of Tehran

2 Tehran university

10.22080/jepr.2026.31535.1329

Abstract

In the contemporary era, the paradigm of ontological naturalism has achieved such dominance that it has permeated various domains of knowledge, notably the realm of the meaning of life. In response to the problem of meaning, naturalists have adopted diverse approaches: one group, embracing scientific nihilism, posits that science has demonstrated the universe to be devoid of any objective meaning or purpose; others, adopting a subjectivist approach, deny meaning any external reality, regarding it as a subjective phenomenon contingent upon personal satisfaction; another faction employs evolutionary genealogy (biological reductionism) to interpret human meaning and values purely in terms of survival mechanisms and evolutionary processes; while yet another cohort utilizes objectivist approaches in an attempt to discover objective foundations for meaning within the material world itself, without resorting to the supernatural
Many of these approaches have been subjected to rigorous critique by thinkers such as John Cottingham,He levels fundamental criticisms against naturalistic frameworks, contending that none provide an adequate response to the problem of meaning. The present study employs an analytical-critical approach to examine these critiques in order to evaluate their validity . An analysis of Cottingham’s perspective and the foundations of naturalism reveals that his primary criticisms are entirely sound; for these approaches not only conflict with our deepest moral intuitions, but they also fail to provide a proper interpretation of meaningfulness within the realm of lived experience, ultimately leading to an existential vacuum. Consequently, to attain authentic meaning, there is no alternative but to return to a metaphysical framework.

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