Final answer:
The root 'Nat-' is associated with nature and natural processes. 'Nature' is a collective term, 'natural' is an adjective, 'naturalist' is a noun, and 'naturally' is an adverb. The term 'natural philosophy' historically encompassed all of nature, including physics, and 'natural rights' refer to universal rights not dependent on human laws.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question tackles the etymology and lexical categories of words derived from the root Nat-. To clarify, Nat- is indeed a root, commonly associated with nature and birth. The word 'nature' can be considered a collective term for all innate characteristics and the inherent forces of the physical world, aligning to describe a 'non-in' or 'entity' in this context. 'Natural' serves as an adjective to depict any attribute or characteristic that is derived from nature. A 'naturalist' is a noun referring to someone who studies or is an expert in natural history, while 'naturally' is an adverb that describes something happening by nature, rather than being man-made or artificial.
Touching on philosophy, natural philosophy historically included all aspects of nature, which encompassed what we now refer to as the physical sciences, including physics. Natural rights are fundamental rights that are believed to be inherent and universal, not contingent upon man-made laws. In contrast, legal rights are those conferred by legislation within a given legal framework. The interdisciplinary study of the natural world and philosophy helps us understand the interconnectedness of various concepts, leveraging the notion of 'following nature' as a guide for ethical behavior, scientific inquiry, and the search for truth.
Regarding the academic disciplines, while physics studies the fundamental principles and laws of the universe, ethics is concerned with morality and is not categorized as a science. Although named political science, the study of governments is not classified as a true science since it pertains to human-created systems.