To assert the natural character of phenomena is the broadest meaning of naturalism, and, accordingly, the least useful. No contemporary view of human behavior - deviant or conventional - would deny its natural character. Naturalism does not and cannot commit itself to eternal preconceptions regarding the nature of phenomena. Consequently, it does not and cannot commit itself to any single preferred method for engaging and scrutinizing phenomena. It stands for observation or engagement of course for that is implicit in fidelity to the natural world. But naturalistic observation may also include experience and introspection, the methods traditionally associated with subjectivism. The opposition to the methods of experience, intuition, and empathy that developed during the early growth of naturalism was understandable and legitimate. The misconception of the man as object oscillated between two major forms: the first radical, the second heuristic.