148 ANTHROPOLOGICAL FORUM natural explanations. 'Supernatural can thus be justifiably and effectively used even though it is not a native category. have offered a symbolic and psychoanalytic explanation of Chinese Univer sity students' ghost stories that I believe is an attractive explanation. This does lot prove there are no supernatural forces or spirits. Indeed inot prove there are no supernatural forces or spirits. My hypothesis does not entitle us to affirm categorically that there are no spiritual forces save those that well up from man s subconscious'(Lewis 1997: 22). This is why we need to listen to tales of supernatural phenomena with open minds and a respectful stance, even if we are sceptical. We cannot prove the supernatural is not so, even though we may prefer an alternative, natural hypothesis At the beginning of Ordered universes, Morton Klass stated that a goal for the book was to make us all more uncertain of our beliefs and therefore more tolerant of other cultures. The argument that we should abandon'supernatural because it is a Western concept contradicts this goal, because it traps us in the single cultural view of our informants. To say, therefore, that the things inform ants'do and believe in are fully-fully-as"true"and as"verifiable"as are all the things we do and believe in(Klass 1995: 6, emphasis in original) falls into the trap of extreme relativism. Though it is an essential research stance to achieve ethnographic understanding, it risks preventing cultural analysis. By over-valuing informants' views, it denies any advantage or benefit to anthropo logical theories and perspective. Yet most anthropologists do believe the anthropological perspective is better than a single culture-bound perspective for understanding culture; we must have the courage to say so NOTES e 1. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Morton Klass, teacher and stimulator of ussion and ideas. I wish also to thank Wong Ngai Lui, Tse Yee Wan, So Wan Suen, Viki Li, and Rebecca Ma for research assistance. 2. It is important to note that Klass is rejecting the concept of the supernatural not ust on its own terms(though he devotes all of Chapter 4 to the task, but also because he wishes to avoid using the concept as the centrepiece of a definition of religion. I shall not seek to address the problem of the definition of religion, but wish simply to show why it is useful to retain the concept of the supernatural. 3. The May 4th Movement was sparked by outrage that German territories(know as concessions) in China were not returned to China but turned over to Japan, but it also became a movement for promoting science and cultural reform, including the use of the vernacular in writing. 4. The explanation for fire walking is that coal, even when hot, is a low conductor of heat On Geller, see Randi (1982)148 ANTHROPOLOGICAL FORUM natural explanations. ‘Supernatural’ can thus be justifiably and effectively used even though it is not a native category. I have offered a symbolic and psychoanalytic explanation of Chinese Univer￾sity students’ ghost stories that I believe is an attractive explanation. This does not prove there are no supernatural forces or spirits. Indeed, one cannot prove there are no supernatural forces or spirits. My hypothesis ‘does not entitle us to affirm categorically that there are no spiritual forces save those that well up from man’s subconscious’ (Lewis 1997:22). This is why we need to listen to tales of supernatural phenomena with open minds and a respectful stance, even if we are sceptical. We cannot prove the supernatural is not so, even though we may prefer an alternative, natural hypothesis. At the beginning of Ordered universes, Morton Klass stated that a goal for the book was to make us all more uncertain of our beliefs, and therefore more tolerant of other cultures. The argument that we should abandon ‘supernatural’ because it is a Western concept contradicts this goal, because it traps us in the single cultural view of our informants. To say, therefore, that the things inform￾ants ‘do and believe in are fully—fully—as ‘‘true’’ and as ‘‘verifiable’’ as are all the things we do and believe in’ (Klass 1995:6, emphasis in original) falls into the trap of extreme relativism. Though it is an essential research stance to achieve ethnographic understanding, it risks preventing cultural analysis. By over-valuing informants’ views, it denies any advantage or benefit to anthropo￾logical theories and perspective. Yet most anthropologists do believe the anthropological perspective is better than a single culture-bound perspective for understanding culture; we must have the courage to say so. NOTES 1. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Morton Klass, teacher and stimulator of discussion and ideas. I wish also to thank Wong Ngai Lui, Tse Yee Wan, So Wan Suen, Viki Li, and Rebecca Ma for research assistance. 2. It is important to note that Klass is rejecting the concept of the supernatural not just on its own terms (though he devotes all of Chapter 4 to the task), but also because he wishes to avoid using the concept as the centrepiece of a definition of religion. I shall not seek to address the problem of the definition of religion, but wish simply to show why it is useful to retain the concept of the supernatural. 3. The May 4th Movement was sparked by outrage that German territories (known as concessions) in China were not returned to China but turned over to Japan, but it also became a movement for promoting science and cultural reform, including the use of the vernacular in writing. 4. The explanation for fire walking is that coal, even when hot, is a low conductor of heat. On Geller, see Randi (1982)