Journal of Consciousness Studies 12 (11):43-58 (2005)
Abstract |
_René Descartes proposed an interactive dualism that posits an interaction between the_ _mind of a human being and some of the matter located in his or her brain. Isaac Newton_ _subsequently formulated a physical theory based exclusively on the material/physical_ _part of Descartes’ ontology. Newton’s theory enforced the principle of the causal closure_ _of the physical, and the classical physics that grew out of it enforces this same principle._ _This classical theory purports to give, in principle, a complete deterministic account of the_ _physically described properties of nature, expressed exclusively in terms of these_ _physically described properties themselves. Orthodox contemporary physical theory_ _violates this principle in two separate ways. First, it injects random elements into the_ _dynamics. Second, it allows, and also requires, abrupt probing actions that disrupt the_ _mechanistically described evolution of the physically described systems. These probing_ _actions are called Process 1 interventions by von Neumann. They are psycho-physical_ _events. Neither the content nor the timing of these events is determined either by any_ _known law, or by the afore-mentioned random elements. Orthodox quantum mechanics_ _considers these events to be instigated by choices made by conscious agents. In von_ _Neumann’s formulation of quantum theory each such intervention acts upon the state of_ _the brain of some conscious agent. Thus orthodox von Neumann contemporary physics_ _posits an interactive dualism similar to that of Descartes. But in this quantum version the_ _effects of the conscious choices upon our brains are controlled, in part, by the known_ _basic rules of quantum physics. This theoretically specified mind-brain connection allows_ _many basic psychological and neuropsychological findings associated with the apparent_ _physical effectiveness of our conscious volitional efforts to be explained in a causal and_ _practically useful way..
|
Keywords | Dualism Dynamics Materialism Observation Physics Quantum Mechanics Science Descartes, Rene Newton, Isaac Von Neumann, John |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9744.2005.00762.x |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Quantum Physics in Neuroscience and Psychology: A Neurophysical Model of Mind–Brain Interaction.Jeffrey M. Schwartz, Henry P. Stapp & Mario Beauregard - 2005 - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 360:1309-1327.
The Unity of Human Knowledge.Niels Bohr - 1963 - In Essays 1958--1962 on Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge. Wiley. pp. 8--16.
View all 9 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Closing in on Causal Closure.Robert K. Garcia - 2014 - Journal of Consciousness Studies 21 (1-2):96-109.
Antireductionist Interventionism.Reuben Stern & Benjamin Eva - forthcoming - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.
Distinguishing Between Inter-Domain and Intra-Domain Emergence.Olimpia Lombardi & María J. Ferreira Ruiz - 2019 - Foundations of Science 24 (1):133-151.
A Consciousness-Based Quantum Objective Collapse Model.Elias Okon & Miguel Ángel Sebastián - 2020 - Synthese 197 (9):3947-3967.
View all 21 citations / Add more citations
Similar books and articles
Quantum Interactive Dualism: An Alternative to Materialism.Henry P. Stapp - 2005 - Zygon 41 (3):599-615.
Quantum Interactive Dualism, II: The Libet and Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen Causal Anomalies. [REVIEW]Henry P. Stapp - 2006 - Erkenntnis 65 (1):117-142.
Philosophy of Mind and the Problem of Free Will in the Light of Quantum Mechanics.Henry P. Stapp - unknown
Quantum Theory and the Role of Mind in Nature.Henry P. Stapp - 2001 - Foundations of Physics 31 (10):1465-1499.
Quantum Theory and the Relation Between the Conscious Mind and the Physical World.Euan J. Squires - 1993 - Synthese 97 (1):109-23.
Materialism and the "Problem" of Quantum Measurement.Gregory R. Mulhauser - 1995 - Minds and Machines 5 (2):207-17.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2009-01-28
Total views
1,098 ( #3,675 of 2,411,342 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
12 ( #56,121 of 2,411,342 )
2009-01-28
Total views
1,098 ( #3,675 of 2,411,342 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
12 ( #56,121 of 2,411,342 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads