Epistemology In The Horror Genre

While none of one's daily experiences may suggest the presence of a spirit without a body in one's home, contemplating the epistemology of supernaturalism is a very fundamental part of thorough philosophy that is also a foundational aspect of the horror genre.  The immaterial is at the core of all of reality and all experience due to the nature of logic and consciousness, and thus a kind of supernaturalism is at the heart of reality, even though the word supernatural is largely used in a far more limited sense.  Ironically, the more limited understanding of supernaturalism is facilitated by entertainment.

Horror films often treat consciousness trapped within a body--the normal experience of human consciousness--as if it is not supernatural, in contrast to the wholly incorporeal spirits of many films.  However, all consciousness is supernatural by virtue of being immaterial.  Anything that is not a part of the physical cosmos, such as the laws of logic, consciousness, and the space that holds matter, are all by definition supernatural.  Even though existing horror stories practically never address this, horror is still a genre that routinely and explicitly involves epistemology as a narrative element.

Without epistemological difficulties, many horror films would be far briefer.  A character's personal analysis of their circumstances and possible attempts to demonstrate the supernatural nature of certain events in horror plots are deeply epistemological endeavors, and yet horror is often dismissed as a genre that has little of importance to say.  Even when horror is recognized as having significant philosophical potential, that potential is usually regarded as having more to do with moralism than supernaturalism as a whole--especially supernaturalism in the consistent sense explained above.

It is always popular to mock or misrepresent the storytelling potential of whatever genre a given generation's critics might generally associate with poor production values, repetitive filmmaking techniques, and market oversaturation.  Some might think horror is a dull, overfilled genre that cannot offer more than limited intellectual substance at best, but the genre itself has significant philosophical potential, even if it is ignored by many filmmakers.  The artistic straw men thrown at horror aside, the epistemological aspects of key horror films collectively serve as a major example of this potential, and these aspects could still be utilized in ways that acknowledge logical facts about supernaturalism that few, if any, released horror movies draw attention to.