I will use the term "preternaturalism" to designate a willingness to posit causes that are less than divine but which stand above and beyond those observable ones we see operating within the laws of nature.
A naturalist might oppose theistic arguments from miracles or design by arguing for the possibility of preternatural causes. Such an argument, however, would bring us back to Zeus and Hera, tree nymphs and the like: a supernatural explanation would, by contrast, be more conducive toward a scientific approach to nature (i.e., positing only laws that are falsifiable when doing science).
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