Mental Causation
Causation: The Problem
We find the idea of causation in nearly every area of human thought and activity, e.g., what is cause of AIDs? cause of motion? cause of behavior? cause of that car crash? cause of any mental state?
But what is causation? After all, lots of things are correlated in the world; not all correlations are instances of causings, e.g., Venutian sea levels are correlated with British bread prices.
Since the 1950s, both the atmospheric CO2 level
and crime levels have increased sharply. Strong Correlation.
Hence, atmospheric CO2 causes crime.
Causality
Causality is the relationship between cause and effect.
The philosophical concept of causality or causation refers to the set of all particular "causal" or "cause-and-effect" relations
Causality
Causality postulates that there are laws by which the occurrence of an entity B of a certain class depends on the occurrence of an entity A of another class, where the word entity means any physical object, phenomenon, situation, or event. A is called the cause, B the effect.
"Antecedence postulates that the cause must be prior to, or at least simultaneous with, the effect.
WHAT KIND OF MENTAL CAUSATION?
PHYSICAL MENTAL
MENTAL
PHYSICAL
WHAT ELSE???
MENTAL CAUSATION
MENTAL REALISM
EPIPHENOMENALISM
WHY IMPORTANT?
The possibility of mental causation influences the ways we think of the mind
Mind-body interaction is a necessary part of our concept/understanding of AGENCY
An agent is someone with the capacity to perform actions
Traditionally, agency is possible only if mental causation possible
Problems with Dualism
Hard to see how they could causally interact
There is a lack of interface where causal relations could occur
A Cartesian mind could not affect the body
Problems with Cartesian Dualism (I)
It's mysterious what the "mind substance" is. What it’s not:
• Not made of matter• Not located in space• Not ‘extended’• ...
Problems with Cartesian Dualism (II)
It’s a mystery how minds can interact causally with things made of matter.
Mental causing physical:
I’m going to raise my arm.
Causes
Mental substance (mind) Matter
Problems with Cartesian Dualism (II)
Physical causing mental:
Sound experienc
e
sound waves
Causes
Problems with Cartesian Dualism (III)
Are dualism and gradual evolution consistent?
??
“Materialist” solutions to the Mind – Body Problem
Materialism: The claim that everything in the universe is made up of matter.
The advance of materialism The advance of science has made materialism look very plausible to
many philosophers & scientists. Astronomy: The heavenly bodies are made of matter and obey
the laws of physics.
earth
“heavens”
The advance of materialism
Evolutionary biology: No non-material processes or forces (e.g. God) are needed to explain the design in the biological world.
Spooky stuff?
Spooky stuff?
The advance of materialism
Advances in physiology & understanding the genetic code: There is no need for a “life force” ("elan vital").
“life force”
“life force”
Live tiger
Dead tiger