Can Non-Reductive Physicalism Explain Mental Causation?
Date Issued
2007
Date
2007
Author(s)
Chen, Bo-Ching
DOI
zh-TW
Abstract
Could these three theses, mental realism, the physical causal closure principle and mental causation jointly be consistent with each other? It seems that mental realism and mental causation will result in the failure of the physical causal closure principle. On the other hand, the physical causal closure principle will threaten the other two theses. In this thesis I am concerned with the problem of how to make these three theses consistent.
Kim is a philosopher who has done the best in dealing with the issue of mental causation. He rejects the existence of mental causation, because he thinks there is a paradox among the three theses. He argues that the real causal interaction happens only at the physical or brain level. For Kim, reductive physicalism is the best we can have. What I will do is to examine Kim’s argument, and I argue that he did not solve the problem.
Some philosophers such as Baker reject the physical causal closure principle. According to Baker, causation is an epistemological principle, not a metaphysical doctrine. The existence of mental causation is an unnecessary worry. This view is similar to Hume’s position, so it has to face the same problems that Hume has to deal with. I do not accept the view that the causation is just psychological habit.
I will assume that, these three theses are all true. And I will argue that the paradox derived from them is just a surface contradiction. I will contend that a proper theory of the downward causation can successfully solve the problem of mental causation. This thesis develops Searle’s biological naturalism and a new approach to the downward causation. By doing that, I will argue that the problem of mental causation can be resolved.
Subjects
心靈因果
浮現論
非化約論
物理的因果封閉性原則
心靈實在論
mental causation
emergentism
non-reductive physicalism
the physical causal closure principle
mental realism
Type
thesis
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