Nonreductive Physicalism and the Limits of the Exclusion Principle
Journal of Philosophy 106 (9):475-502 (2009)
Authors |
Christian List
London School of Economics
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Abstract |
It is often argued that higher-level special-science properties cannot be causally efficacious since the lower-level physical properties on which they supervene are doing all the causal work. This claim is usually derived from an exclusion principle stating that if a higherlevel property F supervenes on a physical property F* that is causally sufficient for a property G, then F cannot cause G. We employ an account of causation as differencemaking to show that the truth or falsity of this principle is a contingent matter and derive necessary and sufficient conditions under which a version of it holds. We argue that one important instance of the principle, far from undermining non-reductive physicalism, actually supports the causal autonomy of certain higher-level properties
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Keywords | Non reductive physicalism Mental causation Exclusion problem Causation as difference making Higher versus lower levels Downward exclusion Special sciences |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Reprint years | 2009 |
DOI | 10.5840/jphil2009106936 |
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References found in this work BETA
The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory.David J. Chalmers - 1996 - Oxford University Press.
Making Things Happen: A Theory of Causal Explanation.James Woodward - 2003 - Oxford University Press.
Scientific Explanation and the Causal Structure of the World.Wesley Salmon - 1984 - Princeton University Press.
View all 55 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Interventionism and Causal Exclusion.James Woodward - 2015 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 91 (2):303-347.
Methodological Individualism and Holism in Political Science: A Reconciliation.Christian List & Kai Spiekermann - 2013 - American Political Science Review 107 (4):629-643.
View all 93 citations / Add more citations
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