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Single Idea 3991

[filed under theme 7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 5. Supervenience / b. Types of supervenience ]

Full Idea

In the case of millions of pixels making up a picture on a computer screen, the supervenience is reduction.

Clarification

'Supervenience' is the total mapping of one thing onto another

Gist of Idea

Where pixels make up a picture, supervenience is reduction

Source

David Lewis (Lewis: reduction of mind (on himself) [1994], p.414)

Book Ref

'A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind', ed/tr. Guttenplan,Samuel [Blackwell 1995], p.414


A Reaction

Since 'supervenience' seems a suspect relationship about which no one is clear, this is a point very much worth making.


The 12 ideas from 'Lewis: reduction of mind (on himself)'

The whole truth supervenes on the physical truth [Lewis]
I am a reductionist about mind because I am an a priori reductionist about everything [Lewis]
Where pixels make up a picture, supervenience is reduction [Lewis]
Folk psychology makes good predictions, by associating mental states with causal roles [Lewis]
Arguments are nearly always open to challenge, but they help to explain a position rather than force people to believe [Lewis]
Human pain might be one thing; Martian pain might be something else [Lewis]
A mind is an organ of representation [Lewis]
Folk psychology doesn't say that there is a language of thought [Lewis]
If you don't share an external world with a brain-in-a-vat, then externalism says you don't share any beliefs [Lewis]
Nothing shows that all content is 'wide', or that wide content has logical priority [Lewis]
A spontaneous duplicate of you would have your brain states but no experience, so externalism would deny him any beliefs [Lewis]
Wide content derives from narrow content and relationships with external things [Lewis]