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Engaging the World of the Supernatural: Anthropology, Phenomenology and the Limitations of Scientific Rationalism in the Study of the Supernatural

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Engaging the World of the Supernatural: Anthropology, Phenomenology and the Limitations of Scientific Rationalism in the Study of the Supernatural Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, Volume 6, Edition 1 May 2006 Page 1 of 12 Engaging the World of the Supernatural: Anthropology, Phenomenology and the Limitations of Scientific Rationalism in the Study of the Supernatural by Theodore S. Petrus Abstract Scientific rationalism has long been considered one of the pillars of true science. It has been one of the criteria academics have used in their efforts to categorise disciplines as scientific. Perhaps scientific rationalism acquired this privileged status because it worked relatively well within the context of the natural sciences, where it seemed to be easy to apply this kind of rationalism to the solution of natural scientific problems. However, with the split in the scientific world between the natural sciences and the social sciences, the role of scientific rationalism, especially in the social sciences, becomes less clear-cut, with the ambiguous status of positivism in the social sciences making scientific rationalism more of a shaky foundation than a pillar of social science. The weaknesses inherent in scientific rationalism are most exposed within the context of anthropology, and particularly in the anthropological study of the supernatural, or supernatural beliefs. This paper will attempt to point out some of the weaknesses of scientific rationalism specifically within the context of the anthropology of the supernatural and religion. By doing so, it is hoped to show, with reference to some phenomenological ideas, that, while scientific rationalism does have its merits within anthropology, a rigid application of rationalism could become a limitation for anthropological studies of those aspects of human life that challenge Western scientific rationalism. The debate around the position of anthropology as a science or non-science is related to the issue of the role of scientific rationalism. This debate is indeed part of the history of anthropology and is as yet unresolved. As such, the ideas of several earlier scholars will be referred to in an attempt to contextualise the arguments presented in this paper. Introduction featured prominently in human cultures throughout the ages. The belief in the supernatural is perhaps as old as humanity itself. Humans have always been both However, with the dawning of the Enlightenment in fascinated by and, at the same time, overcome with an Europe, which was marked by the rise of the rational inexplicable sense of awe when listening to or telling mind and science, the supernatural was relegated to stories of the supernatural. It is one of those aspects of the realm of superstition and irrationality, and thus humanity that links one human society with another, had no place within the emerging culture of science regardless of how diverse they may appear to be on and the rational explanation of phenomena. During the surface. The supernatural and belief in it can thus this period, therefore, “the way was gradually paved be considered to be a cultural universal, since it has for the triumph of observation and reason” (Coleman, The IPJP is a joint project of Rhodes University in South Africa and Edith Cowan University in Australia. This document is subject to copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or in part via any medium (print, electronic or otherwise) without the express permission of the publishers. The Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology (IPJP) can be found at www.ipjp.org. Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, Volume 6, Edition 1 May 2006 Page 2 of 12 Butcher & Carson, 1980, p. 39). In fact, it could be theories and hypotheses, all considered to be argued that the Enlightenment represented a period distinguishing features that separate the scientific and when humans went to extraordinary lengths to rational from the unscientific and irrational, have demonstrate the superior status of reason over created more problems for anthropology than supernatural beliefs. As a result, mentioning one’s solutions. These problems have emerged due to a belief in the supernatural within the scientific world peculiar “merging” in anthropology of two distinct today would more than likely encourage raised eye- knowledge contexts, or what Babbie and Mouton call brows and stares of disbelief, if not total ridicule. The “worlds of knowledge”, maintaining that knowledge question is: why this response by representatives of can be divided into “the world of everyday life and the rational? lay knowledge and the world of science” (2001, p. 6). Knowledge that could form part of the realm of the One hypothesis that could be put forward is that the supernatural falls within the category of lay or rational mind, as illustrated seemingly by the mind of everyday knowledge, which Babbie and Mouton the pure scientist, has come to be regarded as the describe as the kind of knowledge that people epitome of the all-knowing mind. Thus, the Western “basically accept … on face value” (2001, p. 7). conception of science and rationalism has been Religious or supernatural knowledge could fall into imposed upon the rest of the world as being the this category, because people in societies that attach a unequivocal “messiah” of what science is supposed to great degree of significance to the supernatural rarely be. The way in which science is defined and practised question such knowledge, and instead tend to accept is a monopoly held by the West, and therefore what this knowledge on face value. This is why it is not constitutes valid scientific knowledge is only that irrational to attribute illness or misfortune to which conforms to the Western definition of science. witchcraft or sorcery in societies where knowledge of Indeed, social science has been defined by proponents witchcraft and sorcery are accepted as normal (Osei, of Western positivism in terms of a characteristic that 2003). However, within the world of science, the must be present for any social scientific approach to uncritical acceptance of knowledge is unacceptable. the study of phenomena to be regarded as scientific, Knowledge can only be accepted as “true” once it has this criterion being that the social sciences “should been successfully subjected to “systematic and emulate the methodology or logic of the natural rigorous enquiry” (Babbie & Mouton, 2001, p. 7). sciences” (Babbie & Mouton, 2001, p. 21). Through The idea of multiple worlds can be traced to the work this approach, the social sciences can strive towards of the phenomenologist Alfred Schutz, who coined the goals of objectivity, the pursuit for scientific truth the term “multiple realities” (Babbie & Mouton, and rationality. Any approaches that do not conform 2001, p. 28). This view relates to James’s concept of to these requirements are simply not regarded as “sub-universes” which are characterised by the science. And this is where the problem begins. existence of numerous “worlds” of interaction, such as “the world of science, the world of ideal relations, The Problem Defined the various supernatural worlds of mythology and religion, etc.” (Babbie & Mouton, 2001, p. 28). The position of anthropology within the realm of science has been one characterised by ambiguity, a There is thus an incompatibility between these two trait that seems to be the case for the social sciences worlds, that of lay knowledge and that of science. in general. Anthropology, like the other social Anthropology seems to be trapped between these two sciences, has had a history of struggle, battling to worlds, since anthropologists are expected to have itself recognised as a valid science. This investigate aspects related to the world of everyday struggle, as the philosopher of science Dilthey (1988) life and lay knowledge within the confines of the argued, stemmed from the position of anthropology in world of science. The question is whether or not this between the two major traditions of scientific is possible. The answer to this question lies partly in explanation, namely Naturwissenschaften (natural recognising the undertones in anthropology of a science), which was influenced by positivism, and movement that, in my view, provides perhaps a way Geisteswissenschaften (human science), influenced, out of this trap. This movement has become known as among other things, by phenomenology. The problem phenomenology. for anthropology has been to contend with the demands of both, sharply contrasting, approaches, A Brief Outline of Phenomenology and its Relation distinguished as follows by Babbie and Mouton to and Significance for Anthropology (2001): “positivism emphasizes the object of the natural and social sciences, the phenomenological “Phenomenology” has become the term used to refer tradition emphasizes the differences between them” to (p. 28). Explanation, rigid methodologies, complex The IPJP is a joint project of Rhodes University in South Africa and Edith Cowan University in Australia. This document is subject to copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or in part via any medium (print, electronic or otherwise) without the express permission of the publishers. The Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology (IPJP) can be found at www.ipjp.org. Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, Volume 6, Edition 1 May 2006 Page 3 of 12 a philosophical movement whose primary features of anthropology has been defined as holism, objective is the direct investigation and that is, the pursuit of trying to understand a particular description of phenomena as consciously phenomenon within as broad and comprehensive a experienced, without theories about their perspective as possible, as well as within the context causal explanation and as free as possible within which the phenomenon occurs. Howard (1986) from unexamined preconceptions and sees the anthropological pursuit of holism as an presuppositions. (Spiegelberg, 1975, p. 3) attempt to “study all phenomena in relation to an encompassing whole [as well as] … all the parts to According to Hammond, Howarth and Keat (1991), further our knowledge of the nature of the totality” (p. phenomenology can briefly be defined as “the 12). If one looks at the anthropological study of description of things as one experiences them” (p.
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