Breaking a Scientific Taboo: Putting Assumptions About the Supernatural into Scientific Theories of Religion.

This paper demonstrates that it is feasible and useful to insert positive and negative assumptions about the supernatural into scientific theories of religion. The logic of constructing theories makes it possible to insert such statements into theories as postulates, along with ordinary propositions from general systems theory and reinforcement theory, and then to deduce tenable propositions. The logical procedures to follow are carefully described, and several examples are given. It is shown that when differing assumptions about the supernatural are made, differing and opposed empirical propositions about religious behavior can be deduced. It is also shown that incorporating assumptions about the supernatural can produce testable propositions not usually considered by scientific students of religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]