Single Idea 2535

[catalogued under 17. Mind and Body / E. Mind as Physical / 5. Causal Argument]

Full Idea

The dominant empirical argument for physicalism is the Overdetermination Argument: physics is closed and complete, mind is causally efficacious, the world isn't choc-full of overdetermination, so the mind is physical as well.

Gist of Idea

The main argument for physicalism is its simple account of causation

Source

Scott Sturgeon (Matters of Mind [2000], Intro)

Book Reference

Sturgeon,Scott: 'Matters of Mind' [Routledge 2000], p.3


A Reaction

I find this argument utterly convincing. The idea that there is only one thing which is outside the interconnected causal nexus which seems to constitute the rest of reality, and that is a piece of meat inside our heads, strikes me as totally ridiculous.