Students of recent American phiosophy are familiar with the distinguished group of thinkers called the naturalists. Under the leadership of John Dewey< George Santayana,Frederick j. e. Woodbridge and Morris R. Cohen, these naturalists have had a tremedous impact on almost every field of philosophicl school in the strict sense.

The American naturalists do not constitute a philosophical sschool in the strict sense. Unlike the logical positivists or the neo-Thomists, they have not adopted a general platform or a well-defined set of doctrines.

Nor have they employed a common method or technique of philosophizing, As a matter of fact, most of them are associated with various philosophical movements and are respectively called neo-realists, critical realists, pragmatists or analytical philosophers. However, despite the differences of their backround and their views on particular issues, these philosophers clearly exhibit a certain kind of affinity and kinship in their general attitude. Their overall philosophical outlook could best be described as "naturalistic".