MorrisDG122010D.pdf (1.08 MB)
Physicalism, Dualism and the Mind-Body Problem
thesis
posted on 2010-12-07, 00:00 authored by Dolores G. MorrisIn this dissertation, I examine the implications of the problem of mental causation and what David Chalmers has dubbed the " hard problem of consciousness" for competing accounts of the mind. I begin, in Chapter One, with a critical analysis of Jaegwon Kim's Physicalism, or Something Near Enough. (2005) There, I maintain that Kim's ontology cannot adequately address both the problem of mental causation and the " hard problem of consciousness." In Chapter Two, I examine the causal pairing problem for substance dualism. I demonstrate both that the substance dualist can respond to the argument at no great cost, and that the pairing problem applies, with equal force, to the irreducible qualia posited on Kim's account. Chapters Three and Four are devoted to what I take to be the central argument against any kind of dualism: the causal exclusion argument. In Chapter Three, I examine dualistic responses to the exclusion argument that grant the causal closure of the physical world. I note that these responses, though technically adequate, are nevertheless theoretically unpalatable. In addition to requiring the dualist to adopt unconventional attitudes towards causation, responses of this variety also have the unfortunate result of rendering libertarian freedom impossible. Finally, in Chapter Four, I turn my attention to the question of causal closure. I maintain that the causal closure of the physical world, though widely affirmed, is nevertheless extraordinarily difficult to support. In light of Hempel's Dilemma, causal closure is either false, compatible with dualistic interaction, or unacceptably stipulative. There is, I maintain, no causal closure principle up to the tasks required by the causal exclusion argument. For that reason, I conclude that the dualist ought not to worry about causal closure.
History
Date Modified
2017-06-05Defense Date
2010-11-05Research Director(s)
Alvin PlantingaCommittee Members
Leopold Stubenberg Michael Rea Marian DavidDegree
- Doctor of Philosophy
Degree Level
- Doctoral Dissertation
Language
- English
Alternate Identifier
etd-12072010-202652Publisher
University of Notre DameProgram Name
- Philosophy
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