Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The Dionysian · 10-10-2002, 04:10 PM

The way I understand it is, and correct me if I'm wrong, supervenience in the philosophy of mind doesn't actually say what the mind is. Supervenience basically says that mental properties supervene on physical properties without ever explaining what the mind is (i.e. it doesn't support reductionism, epiphenomenalism etc...) right?

The Dionysian · 10-10-2002, 04:16 PM

Isn't supervenience just non-reductive physicalism?

Clutch · 10-10-2002, 04:37 PM

Tom, supervenience need not even define materialism. In essence it just says, no change at the mental level without a change at the physical level.

It is a further claim that mental properties are constituted out of physical properties.

Anyhow, supervenience is not itself a theory of mind, nor is it marketed as such. It is just a sketch of correlation conditions between the mental and the physical. It is consistent with type and token physicalism, with anomolous monism, and with Cartesian dualism for that matter, if the modal operators are read accommodatingly. But its motivation is to fill a gap raised by multiple-realizability theories of mind: What is the formal nature of the mind-body relation if the mental is physical, but mental properties are not strictly identical with physical properties? (Not identical with anyone such, because of the transitivity of identity, nor identical with the disjunctive class of them, because such a predicate is not "projectible".) Supervenience is supposed to be a minimal answer to that question.

The Dionysian · 10-10-2002, 04:47 PM

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Dr. Retard · 10-11-2002, 07:56 AM

Supervenience is a broad philosophical concept. It's not just used in philosophy of mind. It's also in metaethics, for instance.

Keith Russell · 10-14-2002, 08:19 AM

Greetings:

Cool! (I love learning new words--and new concepts.)

Thanks, all.

Keith.

10-10-2002, 04:10 PM	#1
The Dionysian Regular Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: who knows Posts: 154	Supervenience Question The way I understand it is, and correct me if I'm wrong, supervenience in the philosophy of mind doesn't actually say what the mind is. Supervenience basically says that mental properties supervene on physical properties without ever explaining what the mind is (i.e. it doesn't support reductionism, epiphenomenalism etc...) right?

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

10-10-2002, 04:16 PM	#2
The Dionysian Regular Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: who knows Posts: 154	Isn't supervenience just non-reductive physicalism?

10-10-2002, 04:37 PM	#3
Clutch Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Canada Posts: 3,751	Tom, supervenience need not even define materialism. In essence it just says, no change at the mental level without a change at the physical level. It is a further claim that mental properties are constituted out of physical properties. Anyhow, supervenience is not itself a theory of mind, nor is it marketed as such. It is just a sketch of correlation conditions between the mental and the physical. It is consistent with type and token physicalism, with anomolous monism, and with Cartesian dualism for that matter, if the modal operators are read accommodatingly. But its motivation is to fill a gap raised by multiple-realizability theories of mind: What is the formal nature of the mind-body relation if the mental is physical, but mental properties are not strictly identical with physical properties? (Not identical with anyone such, because of the transitivity of identity, nor identical with the disjunctive class of them, because such a predicate is not "projectible".) Supervenience is supposed to be a minimal answer to that question.

10-10-2002, 04:47 PM	#4
The Dionysian Regular Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: who knows Posts: 154	Thanks for clearing that up for me.

10-11-2002, 07:56 AM	#5
Dr. Retard Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Tucson, Arizona, USA Posts: 735	Supervenience is a broad philosophical concept. It's not just used in philosophy of mind. It's also in metaethics, for instance.

10-14-2002, 08:19 AM	#6
Keith Russell Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Overland Park, Kansas Posts: 1,336	Greetings: Cool! (I love learning new words--and new concepts.) Thanks, all. Keith.

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.