Abstract
I discuss arguments about the relationship between different “levels” of explanation in the light of examples involving multi-scale analysis. I focus on arguments about causal competition between properties at different levels, such as Jaegwon Kim’s “supervenience argument.” A central feature of Kim’s argument is that higher-level properties can in general be identified with “micro-based” properties. I argue that explanations from multi-scale analysis give examples of explanations that are problematic for accounts such as Kim’s. I argue that these difficulties suggest that some standard assumptions about causal competition need to be revised.
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McGivern, P. Reductive levels and multi-scale structure. Synthese 165, 53–75 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-007-9232-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-007-9232-3