Is Dark Matter Supernatural?

No, it's not. Don't be alarmed: nobody is claiming that dark matter is supernatural. That's just the provocative title of a blog post by Chris Schoen, asking whether science can address "supernatural" phenomena. I think it can, all terms properly defined. This is an old question, which has come up again in a discussion that includes Russell Blackford, Jerry Coyne, John Pieret, and Massimo Pigliucci. (There is some actual discussion in between the name-calling.) Part of the impetus for the discussion is this new paper by Maarten Boudry, Stefaan Blancke, Johan Braeckman for Foundations of Science. There are two issues standing in the way of a utopian ideal of universal agreement: what we mean by "supernatural," and how science works. (Are you surprised?) There is no one perfect definition of "supernatural," but it's at least worth trying to define it before passing judgment. Here's Chris Schoen, commenting on Boudry et. al: