: Primitives and the Supernatural . Lucien Levy-Bruhl.

Lévy-Bruhl and the Problem of Contradiction

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...

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...

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...

Levy Statistics and Anomalous Transport: Levy Flights and Subdiffusion

III. Lévy flights 9 A. Underlying random walk process 9 B. Propagator and symmetries 10 C. Presence of external potentials 12 1. Harmonic potential 12 2. Steeper than harmonic potentials 13 D. First passage and first arrival of Lévy flights 15 E. Leapover properties of Lévy flights 17 F. Kramers problem for Lévy flights 18 G. More on the ”pathology” 20 H. Bi-fractional transport equations 22 I....