Final answer:
The dominant natural paradigm during the Middle Ages was based on religious dogma and divine creation. This belief system was later challenged by the Scientific Revolution which emphasized empirical observation, leading to the Enlightenment where reason and empirical evidence were highly valued.
Step-by-step explanation:
The dominant paradigm for the natural world during the European Middle Ages was based on religious dogma and divine creation. In contrast, the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries initiated the Scientific Revolution, which brought about a change in perspective through empirical observation and experimentation, challenging the religious dogmatism of the Middle Ages. The Enlightenment era further built on these scientific ideas, valuing reason and empirical evidence, and leading to critical exploration across various fields. This time period saw thinkers like Francis Bacon and John Locke advocating for knowledge gained through empirical methods, which underpinned the development of the scientific method, a distinctive way of gaining knowledge about the natural world through evidence and logic.