Mental Causation

The Mind-Body Problem
Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-0-231-14417-9
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 216 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 154 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 299 g

Two thousand years ago, Lucretius said that everything is atoms in the void; it's physics all the way down. Contemporary physicalism agrees. But if that's so how can we& mdash;how can our thoughts, emotions, our values& mdash;make anything happen in the physical world?This conceptual knot, the mental causation problem, is the core of the mind-body problem, closely connected to the problems of free will, consciousness, and intentionality. Anthony Dardis shows how to unravel the knot. He traces its early appearance in the history of philosophical inquiry, specifically in the work of Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, and T. H. Huxley. He then develops a metaphysical framework for a theory of causation, laws of nature, and the causal relevance of properties. Using this framework, Dardis explains how macro, or higher level, properties can be causally relevant in the same way that microphysical properties are causally relevant: by their relationship with the laws of nature. Smelling an orange, choosing the orange rather than the cheesecake, reaching for the one on the left instead of the one on the right-mental properties such as these take their place alongside the physical "motor of the world" in making things happen.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Dardis, Anthony

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Moderne Philosophische Disziplinen Philosophie des Geistes, Neurophilosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

PrefaceAcknowledgments1. Why Mental Causation?2. Immortality and the Body3. Dualism and Automatism4. Ghosts and Machines5. Properties6. Causation and Properties7. Sunburn and Fragile Things8. Supervenience and Levels9. The Causal Relevance of Mental PropertiesReferencesIndex

Über Autor(innen)

Anthony Dardis is professor of philosophy at Hofstra University. He has previously taught at Pomona College and the University of Georgia, and his work has been published in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, History of Philosophy and Logical Analysis, Acta Analytica, Dialogue, and Consciousness and Cognition.