The Noble Lie of Poetic Naturalism

 On a recent podcast, Dr. William Lane Craig reflected on poetic naturalism. What is poetic naturalism?

I had never heard the term before. I’m sure most of us are not familiar with the term either. 

Poetic naturalism is really naturalism shrouded in aesthetics. Dr. William Lane Craig makes this observation by stating, “poetic naturalism, sounds to me like good ole plain naturalism, the physical world is all there is, we’re electro-chemical machines, there are no transcendental meanings, purpose, and values… everything is relative (therefore there is no right and wrong), yet no one lives as if this were true”.

Dr. Craig will explain that in order to survive such a worldview, a person must create a poetic vocabulary to paint naturalism in a better light. Thus, making it palpable.

A noble lie

Above and beyond vocabulary, a person must hinge this worldview upon a noble lie. It functions as the bedrock from which life gains meaning. 

Dr. Craig explains that on a naturalistic worldview, “we are all doomed, and nothing we do ultimately matters, in the end, our fate cannot be avoided.”

He will firmly declare, “it’s impossible to live happily and consistently within this worldview”.

He then quotes from Dr. L.D. Rue (the antagonist) who coined the phrase noble lie, “we must deceive ourselves, by means of some noble lie, that will enable us to get along with each other, and continue to live as though life were not ultimately meaningless.”

What a terrible hope to have, that the best life can provide is your own preferred noble lie. You must lie to yourself — nobly —  to make life the poetic masterpiece you desire.

On this worldview, we must “deceive ourselves”, so that we can “get along with one another”. The only thing keeping the peace is the self-deception we create. 

It’s more than just our familial or one on one interactions. This noble lie is something every person must possess (it almost sounds like an objective truth?), it must be bought by society at large. In this view, society hangs on the thread of a lie. 

The authentic life 

Dr. Craig will go on to contrast the noble lie to the authentic life. Borrowing from the existential philosophers, Dr. Craig cannot understand how an intelligent human being would prefer self-deception and lying, in favor of, living a life of authenticity and honesty. 

He quotes from another philosopher, Francis Schaeffer, who makes a distinction between a two leveled narrative to life. The lower level is the perceivable natural world, but the upper level is the transcendental we use to provide life meaning. 

Schaeffer argues according to Dr. Craig, “the modern man is unable to live life in the lower level, and consistently takes leaps of faith into the upper level of transcendental values to provide life’s meaning.”

Schaeffer points out that it’s impossible to live a noble lie. You will always seek after truth and the transcendental to provide meaning to life. The noble lie, in and of itself, is a leap into the very thing it denies. 

Dr. Craig cites Jean Paul Sartre to hammer home the nail, a noble lie, “is an exercise in unauthentic living”. 

When the lie dies

The podcast ends with the grim reality of naturalism, and how its grimness can be used as a pre-apologetic for Christianity.

Dr. Craig encourages everyone to read Bertrand Russell’s book, “A Free Man’s Worship”. It shows the grim reality and the logical consequences of believing in naturalism.

Christianity is an existential alternative that is superior to naturalism because it provides intrinsic meaning to life. 

Being able to articulate and show why naturalism is faulty can help lead people to seek the hope Christianity provides.