ERIC Number: EJ979490
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Oct
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
Reference Count: 54
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0926-7220
The Role of Metaphysical Naturalism in Science
Mahner, Martin
Science & Education, v21 n10 p1437-1459 Oct 2012
This paper defends the view that metaphysical naturalism is a constitutive ontological principle of science in that the general empirical methods of science, such as observation, measurement and experiment, and thus the very production of empirical evidence, presuppose a no-supernature principle. It examines the consequences of metaphysical naturalism for the testability of supernatural claims, and it argues that explanations involving supernatural entities are pseudo-explanatory due to the many semantic and ontological problems of supernatural concepts. The paper also addresses the controversy about metaphysical versus methodological naturalism.
Descriptors: Scientific Methodology, Scientific Concepts, Philosophy, Sciences, Scientific Enterprise, Scientific Principles
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: N/A

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