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[German Version] Natural philosophy is the philosophy of the one nature of things, in which all the many things of nature participate. Every philosophy began as natural philosophy in antiquity. The different philosophical disciplines have, however, separated from this beginning, so that now natural philosophy appears as one of many areas of philosophy. I. Antiquity Natural philosophy emerged from poetry with Hesiod. To recognize the being of the whole as proceeding from an original appears in retrospect to constitute the enquiry into its nature, yet the words ϕύσις/ phýsis and ὅλον/ h…

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[German Version] I. Philosophy Naturalism is a polysemous concept; its meaning depends on whether it is used (1) affirmatively or (2) with critical intention, depending on the presupposed understanding of nature. ¶ 1. Affirmative naturalism. When (a) the one nature of all things is contained in God in such a way that nothing can be contrasted with it, the gods and human beings are also (and unconditionally) conceived of as parts of this whole. The gods are then identical with the forces of nature (as in Greek religion [Greece: I,…

[German Version] I. Terminology and Natural Science…