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The Theory of Natural The Theory of Natural IndividualsIndividuals
The McDonald’s Version
Gregg Rosenberg
The Theory of Natural The Theory of Natural IndividualsIndividuals
The Theory of Causal SignificanceThe Carrier Theory of CausationThe Consciousness Hypothesis
Russell/Whitehead ViewRussell/Whitehead View
Russell = Physics is structureWhitehead = “Vacuous” actuality is not
possibleImplies: Physical entities have intrinsic
content not specified by physics
Questions raisedQuestions raised
The “combination” problem– How could intrinsic content exist at a middle level?
Panexperientialism– When is intrinsic content experiential, and why?
Other peculiar features– Unity– Correspondence to information structure– Subjective Instant
The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal SignificanceSignificance
Causal Significance = The constraint the occurrence of an event (or the presence of an individual) places on the possible ways the world could be.
Nomic Content = The properties a thing has which contribute to its causal significance– Effective Properties– Receptive Properties
Nomic ContentNomic Content
Basic tenet: Considered in themselves, effective and receptive properties each have an incomplete nature.
Effective PropertiesEffective Properties
Incomplete determinable properties– Multiple potential values
Intrinsic relations of compatibility, inclusion, and exclusion
EffectiveSide
EffectiveSide
Recept.Side
Recept.Side
EffectiveProperties
EffectiveProperties
???No
Connection
A ReceptiveConnection
Receptive Properties
Special properties whose instances can bind to more than one individual at a time.
Binding creates a new individual to whom the receptivity belongs.
The Importance of BindingThe Importance of Binding
Determinable becomes more determinateIncomplete becomes more complete
Two Fundamental Causal Two Fundamental Causal PrinciplesPrinciples
Determination indicates completeness.Individuals seek completeness.
Receptive Connections Receptive Connections areare Causal ConnectionsCausal Connections
Each receptive connection makes the world more determinate by reducing the possible joint-states of the individuals bound to it.
Receptive connections are operators on a space of possibility
The receptive connection of each individual filters the possibilities for the joint-states of its members– Prior possible joint-states posterior possible joint
states– Posterior possible joint-states = x: x є power set of
prior possible joint states
Definition of Natural IndividualDefinition of Natural Individual
Base Case: Any basic effective or receptive property is a natural individual
Inductive Case: Any set of natural individuals sharing a completed receptive connection is a natural individual.
Level ZeroI ndividuals
(basic properties)
Level OneI ndividuals
(the particle level)
Level Two I ndividuals(particle interactions)
MassChargeSpin
Level One(Individual A)
Level One(Individual B)
Level One(Individual C)
Level One(Individual n)
Level Two(Individual Alpha)
Nature is partitioned into individuals atmany levels. Each level's individuals areconstituted by the existence of a shared
receptive connection binding toindividuals from a lower level.
MassCharge Spin MassCharge Spin MassChargeSpin
The Hierarchy of Natural Individuals
Each IndividualPossesses An IrreducibleReceptive Connection
L0
L1
L2
The levels of nature are strongly emergent, not merely constitutive
L0
L1
L2
Causal Responsibility Across Levelsof Nature
MaterialCausation
FinalCausation
Efficient Causation
The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physics
The theory evokes superposition and the measurement problem;
The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physics
The nature of causal significance is consistent with the existence of quantum coherence;
The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physics
The view makes non-local causation seem expected, rather than mysterious or unexpected;
The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physicsNothing in the theory makes irreducible randomness a surprising feature of the world;
The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physics
The spacetime that we could perhaps construct from causal connections would clearly be relativistic;
The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physics
Like QM, the theory dilutes the special ontological importance of the microphysical (as pointed out by Lockwood);
The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physics
The theory’s realism about possibility is consistent with the ability of counterfactual truths to have measurable effects in the quantum world.
The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physics
Moral: if causation works the way the Theory of Natural Individuals says, then it is not surprising that our physics looks the way it does.
The Carrier Theory of The Carrier Theory of CausationCausation
Something is a natural individual if, and only if, it is experiencing phenomenal individuals.
The Carrier Theory of The Carrier Theory of CausationCausation
Effective properties are carried by phenomenal properties.
Receptivity is carried by experiential properties.
The Carrier Theory of Causation
The Causal Connection Itself Has A Special Kind of Intrinsic Content Complementary ToThe Physical
How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role
Nomic content(requirement on
Carrier)
1. The possibility of being receptively bound is essential to effective properties.
Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 1. The possibility of being
experienced is essential to phenomenal qualities.
How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role
Nomic content(requirement on
Carrier)
2. Being a receptive individual implies receiving the constraint of effective properties.
Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 2.Being an experiencing
subject implies the experiencing of phenomenal qualities.
How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role
Nomic content(requirement on
Carrier)
3. Effective properties are only potential unless actually receptively bound.
Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 3. Phenomenal qualities are
only potential unless actually being experienced.
How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role
Nomic content(requirement on
Carrier)
4. A receptive connection is only potential unless it is binding effective properties.
Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 4. Experience is only
potential unless it is experiencing phenomenal quality.
How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role
Nomic content(requirement on
Carrier)
5. Effective properties are determinables.
Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 5. Phenomenal properties
are determinables.
How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role
Nomic content(requirement on
Carrier)
6. Pure receptive connections are a kind of contentless openness.
Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 6. Phenomenological
reports of the “pure” experiencing subject reveal a kind of contentless openness within pure consciousness.
How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role
Nomic content(requirement on
Carrier)
7. Relations of inclusion, exclusion, compatibility and incompatibility exist between effective properties.
Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 7. Relations of inclusion,
exclusion, compatibility and incompatibility exist between phenomenal properties.
How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role
Nomic content(Requirement on
Carrier)
8. Scalar relations and relations of stipulative difference exist between effective properties.
Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 8. Scalar relations and
relations of intrinsic difference exist between phenomenal properties.
How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role
Nomic content(Requirement on
Carrier)
9. Despite mutually participating in one another’s nature, effective properties and the receptivity binding of them mark distinct essences.
Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 9. Despite mutually
participating in one another’s nature, phenomenal properties and the experiencing of them mark distinct essences.
= [In-1.1, In-1.2, ......, In-1.j]In.k
In.1
In.2
In.3
Imagine a high-level process:
In.K
In-1.1, In-1.2 ,....., In-1.j
Assume eachindividual In.k has the
internal structure:
The Consciousness Hypothesis
Consciousness is the carrier of a cognitively structured, high-level individual.
The End