Konjaku monogatari-shū: Supernatural creatures and order

The Supernatural and the Miraculous

Both intention-based and causation-based definitions of the miraculous make reference to the term ‘supernatural’. Philosophers who define the miraculous appear to use this term in a loose way, perhaps meaning the nonnatural, perhaps meaning a subcategory of the nonnatural. Here I examine the aetiology of the term ‘supernatural’. I consider three outstanding issues regarding the meaning of the t...

Supernatural Miracles and Religious Inclusiveness

In this paper I shall assess Clarke’s assertion that all definitions of miracles that purport to satisfy the criterion of religious inclusiveness should substitute the term ‘supernatural’ for ‘non-natural’. In addition, I shall attempt to strengthen Clarke’s conception of the supernatural by offering an analysis of what it means for something to be ‘above’ nature. Lastly, I shall offer a new ar...

Naturalism, Science and the Supernatural

There is overwhelming agreement amongst naturalists that a naturalistic ontology should not allow for the possibility of supernatural entities. I argue, against this prevailing consensus, that naturalists have no proper basis to oppose the existence of supernatural entities. Naturalism is characterized, following Leiter and Rea, as a position which involves a primary commitment to scientific me...

Comparing Themes in Supernatural and Left Behind

Economic, Psychological, and Neural Creatures

" Perception and choice are the products of context dependent and comparative evaluation mechanisms that can be systematic and predictable, but that do not readily lend themselves to analyses that assume consistency, independence and invariance. "-Eldar Shafir Eldar Shafir's paper powerfully reinforces the notion that we are indeed different creatures from what much economics supposed. To cite ...