Identity Panpsychism and the Causal Exclusion Problem
2024 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 10 credits / 15 HE credits
Student thesisAlternative title
Identitets-panpsykism och det kausala exklusionsproblemet (Swedish)
Abstract [en]
Russellian panpsychism is often regarded as a theory of mind that bears promise of integrating conscious experience into the physical causal order. In a recent article by Howell, this is questioned. I will argue that failure to address Howell´s challenge properly has deeper consequences than it might initially appear; epiphenomenal micro-qualia means that we have lost a unique opportunity to gain insight into necessities in nature. In order to make use of this opportunity, however, some initial assumptions commonly made must be dropped: most crucially, the assumption of mind-body distinctness. In what follows, I try to provide a sketch of how a slightly different version of Russellian panpsychism can be formulated that builds around identity instead of mind-body distinctness. This version of panpsychism can meet Howell's challenge, but what is more, it can be met in a way that fully makes use of the special place occupied by panpsychism regarding the mysterious nature of the “necessary connection” between cause and effect.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2024. , p. 37
Keywords [en]
Mind-body problem, panpsychism, causal realism, Russellian panpsychism, physicalism, causal exclusion
National Category
Philosophy
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-226541OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-226541DiVA, id: diva2:1872522
Subject / course
Philosophy
Supervisors
Examiners
2024-06-182024-06-182024-06-18Bibliographically approved