- Title Pages
- Introduction Why the Demarcation Problem Matters
- 1 The Demarcation Problem
- 2 Science and Pseudoscience
- 3 Toward a Demarcation of Science from Pseudoscience
- 4 Defining Pseudoscience and Science
- 5 Loki's Wager and Laudan's Error
- 6 The Problem of Demarcation
- 7 Science, Pseudoscience, and Science Falsely So-Called
- 8 Paranormalism and Pseudoscience as Deviance
- 9 Belief Buddies versus Critical Communities
- 10 Science and the Messy, Uncontrollable World of Nature
- 11 Science and Pseudoscience
- 12 Evolution
- 13 Is a Science of the Supernatural Possible?
- 14 Navigating the Landscape between Science and Religious Pseudoscience
- 15 Argumentation and Pseudoscience
- 16 Why Alternative Medicine Can Be Scientifically Evaluated
- 17 Pseudoscience
- 18 The Holocaust Denier's Playbook and the Tobacco Smokescreen
- 19 Evolved to Be Irrational?
- 20 Werewolves in Scientists' Clothing
- 21 The Salem Region
- 22 Pseudoscience and Idiosyncratic Theories of Rational Belief
- 23 Agentive Thinking and Illusions of Understanding
- Contributors
- Index
Is a Science of the Supernatural Possible?
Is a Science of the Supernatural Possible?
- Chapter:
- (p.247) 13 Is a Science of the Supernatural Possible?
- Source:
- Philosophy of Pseudoscience
- Author(s):
Evan Fales
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
This chapter examines arguments for the view that any science of the supernatural must be a pseudoscience. It shows that many of these arguments are not good arguments. It also argues that, contrary to recent philosophical discussions, the appeal to the supernatural should not be ruled out as science for methodological reasons, but rather because the notion of supernatural intervention probably suffers from fatal flaws.
Keywords: science, pseudoscience, supernatural
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- Title Pages
- Introduction Why the Demarcation Problem Matters
- 1 The Demarcation Problem
- 2 Science and Pseudoscience
- 3 Toward a Demarcation of Science from Pseudoscience
- 4 Defining Pseudoscience and Science
- 5 Loki's Wager and Laudan's Error
- 6 The Problem of Demarcation
- 7 Science, Pseudoscience, and Science Falsely So-Called
- 8 Paranormalism and Pseudoscience as Deviance
- 9 Belief Buddies versus Critical Communities
- 10 Science and the Messy, Uncontrollable World of Nature
- 11 Science and Pseudoscience
- 12 Evolution
- 13 Is a Science of the Supernatural Possible?
- 14 Navigating the Landscape between Science and Religious Pseudoscience
- 15 Argumentation and Pseudoscience
- 16 Why Alternative Medicine Can Be Scientifically Evaluated
- 17 Pseudoscience
- 18 The Holocaust Denier's Playbook and the Tobacco Smokescreen
- 19 Evolved to Be Irrational?
- 20 Werewolves in Scientists' Clothing
- 21 The Salem Region
- 22 Pseudoscience and Idiosyncratic Theories of Rational Belief
- 23 Agentive Thinking and Illusions of Understanding
- Contributors
- Index
