I had asked;
> "Is [human decision-making] "supernatural"? I (and I presume Griffin also)
would strongly
> object to using that term here because it has such a long tradition of
> association with a particular type of _divine_ action (the kind that
> breaks the continuity of the universe's causal nexus)."
Burgy responded:
> So what is "wrong" about the word seems to be its association with divine
> action. OK. We are discussing word definitions then. Let me define four
> new terms (ala Griffin's pattern) as:
>
> Supernaturalism(d) Divine action, in the Christian orthodox tradition,
> unlimited.
> Supernaturalism(p) Divine action, in the Process Theology view, somewhat
> limited; still >> human capabilities.
> Supernaturalism(h) Some human action. Severely limited, of course, but
> still sometimes creative.
> Supernaturalism(a) Some animal actions.
> Howard finishes his post with:
>
> "Although human decision-making may be neither "natural" (in the senses
> noted above) nor divine, it is fully a creaturely action. Perhaps the
> distinction between "divine" and "creaturely" action would be more
> fruitful than the one
> between natural and non-natural (or supernatural, or extra-natural)."
>
> I think we are struggling here for proper word definitions. What do you
> think of the four I have above? Descartes would say that the fourth is a
> null set, but that's really a tangential thread.
hvt again:
I see that the first two, supernaturalism (d) and (p), are both forms of
_divine_ action; (d) can be coercive, but (p) is not. The second two are
both _creaturely_; (h) is human action, while (a) is animal action. What you
have been calling 'natural' action would also fall in the 'creaturely'
category.
I think the four versions of 'supernatural' that you distinguish are valid,
but I doubt very much that the general public is going to adopt this system.
When the word 'supernatural' is used without qualification, the meaning most
commonly taken will still be (d) -- extraordinary (and usually coercive)
divine action that supercedes and breaks the continuity of creaturely
cause/effect connections.
Howard
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