Hmm, I couldn’t agree with that later definition. Physics is just the “map” after all, and we are always improving it. Mathematics (or some future “completed” mathematics) seems to me the space of things that are possible. I am not certain, but this might be along the lines of what Wittgenstein means when he says things like
“In logic nothing is accidental: if a thing can
occur in an atomic fact the possibility of that
atomic fact must already be prejudged in the
thing.
If things can occur in atomic facts, this possibility
must already lie in them.
(A logical entity cannot be merely possible.
Logic treats of every possibility, and all possibilities
are its facts.)” (from the Tractatus—possibly he undoes all this in his later work, which I have yet to read...)
This is a tricky nest of definitions to unravel of course. I prefer to not call anything supernatural unless it lies outside the “true” order of reality, not just if it isn’t on our map yet. I am a physicist though, and it is hard for me to see the logical possibility of anything outside the “true” order of the universe. Nevertheless, it seems to me like this is what people intend when they talk about God. But then they also try to prove that He must exist from logical arguments. These goals seem contradictory to me, but I guess that’s why I’m an athiest :p.
I don’t know where less “transcendant” supernatural entities fit into this scheme of course. Magic powers and vampires etc need not neccessarily defy logical description, they just don’t seem to exist.
I agree that in the end, banishing the word supernatural is probably the easiest way to go :p.
Hmm, I couldn’t agree with that later definition. Physics is just the “map” after all, and we are always improving it. Mathematics (or some future “completed” mathematics) seems to me the space of things that are possible. I am not certain, but this might be along the lines of what Wittgenstein means when he says things like
“In logic nothing is accidental: if a thing can occur in an atomic fact the possibility of that atomic fact must already be prejudged in the thing.
If things can occur in atomic facts, this possibility must already lie in them.
(A logical entity cannot be merely possible. Logic treats of every possibility, and all possibilities are its facts.)” (from the Tractatus—possibly he undoes all this in his later work, which I have yet to read...)
This is a tricky nest of definitions to unravel of course. I prefer to not call anything supernatural unless it lies outside the “true” order of reality, not just if it isn’t on our map yet. I am a physicist though, and it is hard for me to see the logical possibility of anything outside the “true” order of the universe. Nevertheless, it seems to me like this is what people intend when they talk about God. But then they also try to prove that He must exist from logical arguments. These goals seem contradictory to me, but I guess that’s why I’m an athiest :p.
I don’t know where less “transcendant” supernatural entities fit into this scheme of course. Magic powers and vampires etc need not neccessarily defy logical description, they just don’t seem to exist.
I agree that in the end, banishing the word supernatural is probably the easiest way to go :p.