Belief Compass

Across families

Existentialism and Philosophical Naturalism

Different families with 15 axes in close agreement — the sort of pairing a quiz weighting only the divine axes would never surface. Mean distance across all seventeen axes: 0.05 (0 would be identical).

ExistentialismPhilosophical

No given essence, no external warrant, and therefore total responsibility for what you make of yourself. The highest value in the matrix on individual conscience, and it treats that as a burden rather than as a liberation.

Philosophical NaturalismNon-theistic

The claim that the natural world is all there is, argued as a position rather than assumed as a mood. Less interested than humanism in supplying a replacement ethics, and correspondingly less pluralist about what counts as true.

Where they agree

  • D3 The body

    Both sit at leaning to be celebrated — a gap of 0.00.

  • A3 Plurality

    Both sit at strictly one — a gap of 0.02.

  • B2 Reading of sacred text

    Both sit at metaphorical, or no text at all — a gap of 0.03.

  • D2 Centrality of ritual

    Both sit at optional or absent — a gap of 0.03.

  • E3 Locus of belonging

    Both sit at an individual choice — a gap of 0.03.

  • C2 Shape of time

    Both sit at one life, then judgment — a gap of 0.03.

  • C1 Survival of the self

    Both sit at ends at death — a gap of 0.03.

  • B1 Source of truth

    Both sit at reason and direct experience — a gap of 0.03.

  • E2 Origin of the cosmos

    Both sit at beginningless or natural — a gap of 0.03.

  • E4 Standing of nature

    Both sit at between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacred — a gap of 0.04.

  • A2 Personhood

    Both sit at impersonal principle or order — a gap of 0.04.

  • B3 Institutional authority

    Both sit at individual conscience decides — a gap of 0.06.

  • D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good

    Both sit at achieved by effort or insight — a gap of 0.06.

  • C3 The human condition

    Both sit at leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound — a gap of 0.06.

  • A1 Divine reality

    Both sit at nothing beyond the natural — a gap of 0.07.

All seventeen axes

AxisExistentialismPhilosophical NaturalismGap
A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the naturalnothing beyond the natural0.07
A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or orderimpersonal principle or order0.04
A3 Pluralitystrictly onestrictly one0.02
A4 Locusleaning wholly beyond the worldwholly beyond the world0.12
B1 Source of truthreason and direct experiencereason and direct experience0.03
B2 Reading of sacred textmetaphorical, or no text at allmetaphorical, or no text at all0.03
B3 Institutional authorityindividual conscience decidesindividual conscience decides0.06
C1 Survival of the selfends at deathends at death0.03
C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgmentone life, then judgment0.03
C3 The human conditionleaning ignorant but fundamentally soundleaning ignorant but fundamentally sound0.06
D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodachieved by effort or insightachieved by effort or insight0.06
D2 Centrality of ritualoptional or absentoptional or absent0.03
D3 The bodyleaning to be celebratedleaning to be celebrated0.00
E1 Exclusivityleaning many valid pathsbetween one true path and many valid paths0.23
E2 Origin of the cosmosbeginningless or naturalbeginningless or natural0.03
E3 Locus of belongingan individual choicean individual choice0.03
E4 Standing of naturebetween creation, given for use and animate and itself sacredbetween creation, given for use and animate and itself sacred0.04

Positions for Existentialism rest principally on Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism; de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity; for Philosophical Naturalism, on Contemporary philosophical naturalism (Dennett, Sellars, Papineau). Per-cell sources are listed on each tradition’s own page.

Which of the two is closer to you?

The questionnaire places your answers on these same axes and ranks all 65 traditions by how closely they match. Take it.