Physicalism

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Physicalism

Daniel Stoljar
Physicalism Book PDF

Author : Daniel Stoljar
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 265 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2010-04-05
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781135149222

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Physicalism by Daniel Stoljar Pdf

Physicalism, the thesis that everything is physical, is one of the most controversial problems in philosophy. Its adherents argue that there is no more important doctrine in philosophy, whilst its opponents claim that its role is greatly exaggerated. In this superb introduction to the problem Daniel Stoljar focuses on three fundamental questions: the interpretation, truth and philosophical significance of physicalism. In answering these questions he covers the following key topics: a brief history of physicalism and its definitions what a physical property is and how physicalism meets challenges from empirical sciences ‘Hempel’s dilemma’ and the relationship between physicalism and physics physicalism and key debates in metaphysics and philosophy of mind, such as supervenience, identity and conceivability physicalism and causality. Additional features include chapter summaries, annotated further reading and a glossary of technical terms, making Physicalism ideal for those coming to the problem for the first time.

Physicalism

K. V. Wilkes
Physicalism Book PDF

Author : K. V. Wilkes
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 155 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2014-11-20
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781317577409

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Physicalism by K. V. Wilkes Pdf

The primary aim of this study is to dissolve the mind-body problem. It shows how the ‘problem’ separates into two distinct sets of issues, concerning ontology on the one hand, and explanation on the other, and argues that explanation – whether or not human behaviour can be explained in physical terms – is the more crucial. The author contends that a functionalist methodology in psychology and neurophysiology will prove adequate to explain human behaviour. Defence of this thesis requires: an examination of the mental/physical dichotomy, and its rejection in favour of a distinction between psychological and physical terms; a description and discussion of functionalism in psychology and neurophysiology, showing how the notorious problem of the necessary intensionality of psychological terms may be circumvented; an examination of the role of computer simulation in psycho-physical research; and an explanation of how the phenomena of sentience fit the functional framework. The book concludes that the thesis presented is in all essentials that of Aristotle; Aristotle had no ‘mind-body problem’, and were it not for a subsequent over-obsession with Cartesian scepticism, we need not have had one either.

Christian Physicalism?

R. Keith Loftin,Joshua R. Farris
Christian Physicalism Book PDF

Author : R. Keith Loftin,Joshua R. Farris
Publisher : Lexington Books
Page : 494 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2017-12-26
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781498549240

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Christian Physicalism? by R. Keith Loftin,Joshua R. Farris Pdf

In this volume, philosophers and theologians advance several novel criticisms of the growing trend toward physicalism in Christian theology.

Physicalism, or Something Near Enough

Jaegwon Kim
Physicalism or Something Near Enough Book PDF

Author : Jaegwon Kim
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 201 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2007-12-03
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781400840847

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Physicalism, or Something Near Enough by Jaegwon Kim Pdf

Contemporary discussions in philosophy of mind have largely been shaped by physicalism, the doctrine that all phenomena are ultimately physical. Here, Jaegwon Kim presents the most comprehensive and systematic presentation yet of his influential ideas on the mind-body problem. He seeks to determine, after half a century of debate: What kind of (or "how much") physicalism can we lay claim to? He begins by laying out mental causation and consciousness as the two principal challenges to contemporary physicalism. How can minds exercise their causal powers in a physical world? Is a physicalist account of consciousness possible? The book's starting point is the "supervenience" argument (sometimes called the "exclusion" argument), which Kim reformulates in an extended defense. This argument shows that the contemporary physicalist faces a stark choice between reductionism (the idea that mental phenomena are physically reducible) and epiphenomenalism (the view that mental phenomena are causally impotent). Along the way, Kim presents a novel argument showing that Cartesian substance dualism offers no help with mental causation. Mind-body reduction, therefore, is required to save mental causation. But are minds physically reducible? Kim argues that all but one type of mental phenomena are reducible, including intentional mental phenomena, such as beliefs and desires. The apparent exceptions are the intrinsic, felt qualities of conscious experiences ("qualia"). Kim argues, however, that certain relational properties of qualia, in particular their similarities and differences, are behaviorally manifest and hence in principle reducible, and that it is these relational properties of qualia that are central to their cognitive roles. The causal efficacy of qualia, therefore, is not entirely lost. According to Kim, then, while physicalism is not the whole truth, it is the truth near enough.

Physicalism and Its Discontents

Carl Gillett,Barry Loewer
Physicalism and Its Discontents Book PDF

Author : Carl Gillett,Barry Loewer
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 396 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2001-11-26
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0521801753

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Physicalism and Its Discontents by Carl Gillett,Barry Loewer Pdf

A collection of essays by physicalists and their critics on the important doctrine of physicalism, first published in 2001.

Beyond Physicalism

Daniel D. Hutto
Beyond Physicalism Book PDF

Author : Daniel D. Hutto
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing
Page : 324 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2000-05-15
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9789027283436

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Beyond Physicalism by Daniel D. Hutto Pdf

Unlike standard attempts to address the so-called ‘hard problem’ of consciousness, which assume our understanding of consciousness is unproblematic, this book begins by focusing on phenomenology and is devoted to clarifying the relations between intentionality, propositional content and experience. In particular, it argues that the subjectivity of experience cannot be understood in representationalist terms. This is important, for it is because many philosophers fail to come to terms with subjectivity that they are at a loss to provide a convincing solution to the mind-body problem. In this light the metaphysical problem is revealed to be a product of the misguided attempt to incorporate consciousness within an object-based schema, inspired by physicalism. A similar problem arises in the interpretation of quantum mechanics and this gives us further reason to look beyond physicalism, in matters metaphysical. Thus the virtues of absolute idealism are re-examined, as are the wider consequences of adopting its understanding of truth within the philosophy of science. This book complements the arguments and investigations of The Presence of Mind, which it partners. (Series A)

Physicalism Deconstructed

Kevin Morris
Physicalism Deconstructed Book PDF

Author : Kevin Morris
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 277 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2019
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781108472166

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Physicalism Deconstructed by Kevin Morris Pdf

Provides a philosophical and historical critique of contemporary conceptions of physicalism, especially non-reductive, levels-based approaches to physicalist metaphysics. Challenging assumptions about the mind-body problem, this accessible book will interest scholars working in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science.

Consciousness and Physicalism

Andreas Elpidorou,Guy Dove
Consciousness and Physicalism Book PDF

Author : Andreas Elpidorou,Guy Dove
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 216 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2018-04-19
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781317402077

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Consciousness and Physicalism by Andreas Elpidorou,Guy Dove Pdf

Consciousness and Physicalism: A Defense of a Research Program explores the nature of consciousness and its place in the world, offering a revisionist account of what it means to say that consciousness is nothing over and above the physical. By synthesizing work in the philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and philosophy of science from the last twenty years and forging a dialogue with contemporary research in the empirical sciences of the mind, Andreas Elpidorou and Guy Dove advance and defend a novel formulation of physicalism. Although physicalism has been traditionally understood to be a metaphysical thesis, Elpidorou and Dove argue that there is an alternative and indeed preferable understanding of physicalism that both renders physicalism a scientifically informed explanatory project and allows us to make important progress in addressing the ontological problem of consciousness. Physicalism, Elpidorou and Dove hold, is best viewed not as a thesis (metaphysical or otherwise) but as an interdisciplinary research program that aims to compositionally explain all natural phenomena that are central to our understanding of our place in nature. Consciousness and Physicalism is replete with philosophical arguments and informed, through and through, by findings in many areas of scientific research. It advances the debate regarding the ontological status of consciousness. It will interest students and scholars in philosophy of mind, metaphysics, philosophy of cognitive science, and philosophy of science. And it will challenge both foes and friends of physicalism.

Consciousness and the Prospects of Physicalism

Derk Pereboom
Consciousness and the Prospects of Physicalism Book PDF

Author : Derk Pereboom
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2011-03-22
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780199877324

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Consciousness and the Prospects of Physicalism by Derk Pereboom Pdf

In this book, Derk Pereboom explores how physicalism might best be formulated and defended against the best anti-physicalist arguments. Two responses to the knowledge and conceivability arguments are set out and developed. The first exploits the open possibility that introspective representations fail to represent mental properties as they are in themselves; specifically, that introspection represents phenomenal properties as having certain characteristic qualitative natures, which these properties might actually lack. The second response draws on the proposal that currently unknown fundamental intrinsic properties provide categorical bases for known physical properties and would also yield an account of consciousness. While there are non-physicalist versions of this position, some are amenable to physicalism. The book's third theme is a defense of a nonreductive account of physicalism. The type of nonreductivism endorsed departs from others in that it rejects all token identity claims for psychological and microphysical entities. The deepest relation between the mental and the microphysical is constitution, where this relation is not to be explicated by the notion of identity.

Understanding Physicalism

Gregor M. Hörzer
Understanding Physicalism Book PDF

Author : Gregor M. Hörzer
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 257 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2020-08-10
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9783110688429

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Understanding Physicalism by Gregor M. Hörzer Pdf

Physicalism is a metaphysical thesis easily presented in slogan form – there is nothing over and above the physical – but notoriously difficult to formulate precisely. Understanding physicalism combines insights from contemporary philosophy of mind and metaphysics to present a new account of physical properties and metaphysical dependence and, on this foundation, develop a more rigorous and illuminating formulation of the thesis of physicalism

The Hope and Horror of Physicalism

Christopher Devlin Brown
The Hope and Horror of Physicalism Book PDF

Author : Christopher Devlin Brown
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 147 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2024-06-14
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781040046456

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The Hope and Horror of Physicalism by Christopher Devlin Brown Pdf

This book assesses the existentially relevant consequences of physicalism. It argues that accepting physicalism is the healthiest stance we can take in the face of an account of the self and world which offers no metaphysical assurances. Why should we care about physicalism? On one hand, the view seems to be inconsistent with things that many people find valuable, such as the existence of free will, God, the immortal soul, ultimate purpose, and natural laws like karma. On the other hand, physicalism seems to have positive existential implications such as supporting the unlimited potential of scientific understanding or the attitude that we need not fear supernatural powers or forces because they don’t exist. This book argues that physicalism has several consequences that are of existential import. It begins by outlining the history of physicalism and explaining two popular ways of understanding it: the via negativa approach and the theory-based approach. The rest of Part 1 explores the existential consequences of these two versions of physicalism. Part 2 draws on Nietzsche to construct an argument about what attitude we ought to adopt toward physicalism. It argues that we ought to avoid nihilism and despair even when being confronted with a picture of the universe which offers no metaphysical assurances. Finally, Part 3 is dedicated to how well physicalism deals with the hard problem of consciousness, mental causation, and multiple realization. The Hope and Horror of Physicalism will appeal to anyone interested in a contemporary approach to existential philosophy, as well as scholars and advanced students working in the fields of philosophy of mind and metaphysics.

Physicalism and the Mind

Robert Francescotti
Physicalism and the Mind Book PDF

Author : Robert Francescotti
Publisher : Springer
Page : 100 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2014-09-18
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9789401794510

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Physicalism and the Mind by Robert Francescotti Pdf

This book addresses a tightly knit cluster of questions in the philosophy of mind. There is the question: Are mental properties identical with physical properties? An affirmative answer would seem to secure the truth of physicalism regarding the mind, i.e., the belief that all mental phenomena obtain solely in virtue of physical phenomena. If the answer is negative, then the question arises: Can this solely in virtue of relation be understood as some kind of dependence short of identity? And answering this requires answering two further questions. Exactly what sort of dependence on the physical does physicalism require, and what is needed for a property or phenomenon to qualify as physical? It is argued that multiple realizability still provides irresistible proof (especially with the possibility of immaterial realizers) that mental properties are not identical with any properties of physics, chemistry, or biology. After refuting various attempts to formulate nonreductive physicalism with the notion of realization, a new definition of physicalism is offered. This definition shows how it could be that the mental depends solely on the physical even if mental properties are not identical with those of the natural sciences. Yet, it is also argued that the sort of psychophysical dependence described is robust enough that if it were to obtain, then in a plausible and robust sense of ‘physical’, mental properties would still qualify as physical properties.

Physicalism, or Something Near Enough

Terence Horgan,Brian McLaughlin
Physicalism or Something Near Enough Book PDF

Author : Terence Horgan,Brian McLaughlin
Publisher : BoD – Books on Demand
Page : 250 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2023-03-15
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9783746037851

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Physicalism, or Something Near Enough by Terence Horgan,Brian McLaughlin Pdf

Jaegwon Kim (1934-019) was one of the most influential metaphysicians and philosophers of mind in the last third of the Twentieth Century and early Twenty-First Century. In metaphysics, he did pioneering work on events, supervenience, emergence, higher-level causation, properties, and the metaphysics of the special sciences. His highly influential work in the philosophy of mind centered around the mind-body problem. This special issue of Protosciology is in his honor.

Studies in No-Self Physicalism

Feng Ye
Studies in No Self Physicalism Book PDF

Author : Feng Ye
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 577 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2022-12-12
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9789811981432

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Studies in No-Self Physicalism by Feng Ye Pdf

This book demonstrates how a radical version of physicalism (‘No-Self Physicalism’) can offer an internally coherent and comprehensive philosophical worldview. It first argues that a coherent physicalist should explicitly treat a cognitive subject merely as a physical thing and should not vaguely assume an amorphous or even soul-like subject or self. This approach forces the physicalist to re-examine traditional core philosophical notions such as truth, analyticity, modality, apriority because our traditional understandings of them appear to be predicated on a cognitive subject that is not literally just a physical thing. In turn, working on the assumption that a cognitive subject is itself completely physical, namely a neural network-based robot programmed by evolution (hence the term ‘No-Self’), the book proposes physicalistic theories on conceptual representation, truth, analyticity, modality, the nature of mathematics, epistemic justification, knowledge, apriority and intuition, as well as a physicalistic ontology. These are meant to show that this No-Self Physicalism, perhaps the most minimalistic and radical version of physicalism proposed to date, can accommodate many aspects that have traditionally interested philosophers. Given its refreshingly radical approach and painstakingly developed content, the book is of interest to anyone who is seeking a coherent philosophical worldview in this age of science.

Consciousness and the Limits of Objectivity

Robert J. Howell
Consciousness and the Limits of Objectivity Book PDF

Author : Robert J. Howell
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2013-06-14
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780191662652

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Consciousness and the Limits of Objectivity by Robert J. Howell Pdf

In Consciousness and the Limits of Objectivity Robert J. Howell argues that the options in the debates about consciousness and the mind-body problem are more limited than many philosophers have appreciated. Unless one takes a hard-line stance, which either denies the data provided by consciousness or makes a leap of faith about future discoveries, one must admit that no objective picture of our world can be complete. Howell argues, however, that this is consistent with physicalism, contrary to received wisdom. After developing a novel, neo-Cartesian notion of the physical, followed by a careful consideration of the three major anti-materialist arguments—Black's 'Presentation Problem', Jackson's Knowledge Argument, and Chalmers' Conceivability Argument—Howell proposes a 'subjective physicalism' which gives the data of consciousness their due, while retaining the advantages of a monistic, physical ontology.