Philosophically Defining the Supernatural

By: Matthew Wade FergusonThe University of California, Irvine

At: PAMLA 2014112th Annual Conference

“Familiar Spirits”

The Paranormal

The Parapsychological Association defines the “paranormal” as:

“Any phenomenon that in one or more respects exceeds the limits of what is deemed physically possible according to current scientific assumptions.” “Glossary of Psi (Parapsychological) Terms (L-R),” accessed

October 30, 2014. http://archived.parapsych.org/glossary_l_r.html#p

The “Paranormal” vs. the “Supernatural”

“Natural” Paranormal Phenomena

“Supernatural” Paranormal Phenomena

What is the “natural”?

?

What is the “supernatural”?

?

Physicality

“One obvious candidate for what is meant by the term ‘natural’ is physical. The earliest forms of naturalism, in fact, were versions of materialism or physicalism which maintained that everything that exists is physical. As I have construed naturalism, simple (reductive) physicalism maintains that everything that exists within nature is physical and solely influenced by physical causes.”

• Keith Augustine • “A Defense of Naturalism.” Master’s thesis, University of

Maryland, College Park.• http://infidels.org/library/modern/keith_augustine/thesis.html

Problems

Can all natural states be described in physical terms?

What about supernatural phenomena that are physical?

SupervenienceAugustine continues: “In the contemporary philosophy of mind, an attractive alternative to reductive physicalism is some version of nonreductive physicalism or property dualism. According to nonreductive physicalism, mental states are not simply identical to certain physical states (such as brain states), as reductive physicalists hold; rather, mental states are supervenient upon those physical states … To say that mental states supervene upon physical states is to say that there can be no differences between mental states without a physical difference between the objects which instantiate those states … For our purposes, it is sufficient to say that for a mental state to be supervenient upon a physical state entails that a mental state is dependent upon and determined by that physical state without necessarily being identical to it.”Supervenience = lower order states determine higher order states

Uniformity

“Naturalism in [a] minimal sense can be identified with what has historically been called ‘uniformitarianism,’ which is the assumption that the same general causal principles obtain for all events.”What then is “supernatural,” if the “natural” is defined by the uniformity of nature?

“The most obvious example is the belief in “miracles” defined as supernatural interruptions of normal cause-effect relationships. A miracle, in fact, has usually been defined as an event that is caused totally and directly by God, without the use of any (‘secondary’) causes.” David Griffin Religion and Scientific Naturalism. Albany, NY: State University of New

York Press. 2000. 12-13.

Lack of Uniformity

Ceteris Paribus = “All other things being the same.”

“Natural laws have implicit ceteris paribus conditions … In other words, natural laws assume that no other natural or supernatural factors are interfering with the operation that the law describes.”

• William Craig • In Strobel, L. The Case for Faith. Grand Rapids, MI:

Zondervan Publishing House. 2001. 63.

Closed vs. Open Systems

Natural phenomena occur within a “closed system,” without any supernatural intervention.

Supernatural phenomena — such as the miracles discussed previously — involve external interference, and imply an “open system.”

Mental Objects & Properties

“Naturalism is true iff everything that exists is either ontologically reducible to the nonmental, or causally reducible to the nonmental, or both … For A to be ontologically reducible to B, there must exist nothing in A that is not made up of elements of B … For A to be causally reducible to B, it does not have to be ontologically reducible to B or to anything else, it only has to be entirely causally explained by B or some arrangement of B … A mental object is any object that is distinctive of the contents or activity of a mind, in contrast to what we do not consider as such. The most obvious examples of mental objects in this sense are thoughts, perceptions, and emotions.”• Richard Carrier• “On Defining Naturalism.” Free Inquiry 30, no. 3 (2010): 50-51.

Mental Reducibility

“Natural” mental states are contingent upon physical states (or non-mental states), and are emergent properties of those states.

“Supernatural” mental states are irreducible to physical states (or non-mental states), and are thus ontologically basic.

Teleology

“Religion is that worldview, that paradigm, which sees nonhuman/superhuman minds/wills/intentions at work and which ‘explains’ events and legitimizes relations and institutions in terms of these beings and their wills.”• David Eller• “Is Religion Compatible with Science?” in Loftus, J. ed. The End of

Christianity. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. 2011. 257-278. 274-275.

While the “supernatural” is not synonymous with “religion,” both concepts are heavily related. Teleology = the study of goal-oriented, purpose-driven phenomena

Τέλος = goal/end

Blind Nature

Whereas “supernatural” phenomena tend to involve minds, wills, and intentions, “natural” phenomena are often characterized by blind, accidental, and mechanical processes. In other words: “nature is blind.” Natural = non-teleological

Supernatural = teleological

For example, the origin of life: • “Natural” abiogenesis and evolution is caused by accidental, chance

events (non-teleological). • “Supernatural” creation involves the willful intent to create and

design life, often with some purpose in mind (teleological).

What about “natural” agency?

Human behavior is willful and thus teleological, but a “natural” origin of humankind still reduces human teleology to non-teleological causes. Thus, human agency is still reducibly non-teleological.

In contrast, ghosts, God, souls, and angels are not typically represented as the result of accidental, chance mutations and gradual evolution. Such supernatural minds/wills/indentions are thus irreducibly teleological.

• Unnatural = teleological, but reducibly non-teleological

• Supernatural = teleological, and irreducibly teleological

The “Superhuman”

• Often times “supernatural” phenomena involve “superhuman” abilities (e.g. breathing fire, flying, etc.).

• However, “superhuman” abilities can still be “natural,” if they are reducible to non-teleological causes.

The “Natural” vs. the “Supernatural”

“Natural” phenomena tend to be:1.Physical (or

supervenient upon the physical)

2.Uniform 3.Causally Closed 4.Reducibly Non-

Mental (mental states are contingent and emergent)

5.Non-Teleological

“Supernatural” phenomena tend to be:1. Non-Physical (or

supervenient upon the non-physical)

2. Irregular3. Causally Open4. Irreducibly Mental

(mental states are ontologically basic)

5. Teleological