RE: An Argument Against Supernatural Causation
July 4, 2010 at 3:30 pm
(This post was last modified: July 4, 2010 at 3:32 pm by Welsh cake.)
(July 4, 2010 at 11:28 am)Caecilian Wrote: Its apparent that what we lack here is an agreed definition of what counts as natural/ material and what counts as supernatural/ immaterial. The 2 definitions that you give are both problematic:
1) Relies on already having a definition of what would constitute a different sort of 'stuff'. But thats exactly what we don't have.
2) Similar situation- we don't have a definition of 'natural phenomena'. It also admits the possibility of something that is supernatural now becoming natural tomorrow, when we discover an indubitably natural phenomenon that is consistent with it.
I'm not sure if necessary and sufficient conditions is the way to go here. Perhaps 'supernatural' is more like a Wittgenstinian 'game'.
I wholeheartedly agree, this is the problem with labelling anything as "supernatural" the word was vague in its usage and application before since we never placed any square-bounds on the term "natural", where does the natural universe stop exactly? We haven't established when something is distinct from nature. As our understanding of reality and knowledge-base continues to increase, the word has conversely become altogether meaningless.
Supernatural has no single useful definition because it can be applied in multiple scenarios of varying subjective world views; take atheism for example, "supernatural" is anything currently unexplainable by natural law or phenomena. Theists assert spiritualism, and others also argue it implies the paranormal or preternatural.
We can, if we wish, label our current understanding of the quantitative properties of the bodies' immune systems' responses as "supernatural" because it remains an empirical phenomena in biology that lacks a clear scientific explanation.
Of course, arguing for and/or against, or labelling anything as "supernatural" is an ogre of wasted effort because many occurrences were previously assumed to be supernatural, can now be explained with scientific theories.
Until we all agree on what the limits of naturalism are, the controversy won't end and consequently, 'Supernatural' finds itself as one of the most useless words in the English Language, along with 'Finnimbrun', 'Pulveratricious' and 'Floccinaucinihilipilification'.