Grant, Lisa;
(2020)
Does the casual exclusion argument hold in a probabilistic setting?
Masters thesis (M.Phil.Stud), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
My thesis examines Kim's Casual Exclusion Argument (CEA) as an argument against the existence of mental causation when examined from within an indeterministic setting. One of our best current scientific theories, that is, orthodox quantum mechanics, lead us to believe our world is indeterministic, more precisely, probabilistic. However, our best current or most orthodox philosophical views, that is, physicalism and causal closure sit at odds with the idea of mental causation given an aversion to overdeterminism and identifying the mental and the physical. If I am correct in my arguments then the CEA may only go through in deterministic worlds at least in its original form. I will therefore put forward a probabilistic analogue CEA. By examining the premises of this CEA I will argue that it doesn't hold. This is because I will argue that causal closure does not hold in probabilistic worlds. If my arguments are convincing then this means that one key argument against the existence of mental causation is overcome.
| Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | M.Phil.Stud |
| Title: | Does the casual exclusion argument hold in a probabilistic setting? |
| Event: | UCL (University College London) |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2020. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Dept of Philosophy |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10102063 |
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