More on Global Supervenience

Abstract

Jaegwon Kim contends that global supervenience isconsistent with nonmaterialistic cases. Paull and Sider,Horgan, as well as Kim, attempt to defend it from thesecharges. It is shown here that their defense is onlypartially successful. Their defense meets one challenge toglobal supervenience--the hydrogen-atom case--but fails tomeet other, 'local', cases. It is suggested that the otherchallenges can be met if global supervenience is combinedwith weak supervenience. The combination of global and weaksupervenience constitutes a viable picture ofpsychophysical relations, and is especially attractive tononreductive materialists who are alsoanti-individualists.