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Single Idea 6383

[from 'Intro to 'Essays on Actions and Events'' by Donald Davidson, in 17. Mind and Body / E. Mind as Physical / 5. Causal Argument ]

Full Idea

The concept of cause is what holds together our picture of the universe, a picture that would otherwise disintegrate into a diptych of the mental and the physical.

Gist of Idea

Cause unites our picture of the universe; without it, mental and physical will separate

Source

Donald Davidson (Intro to 'Essays on Actions and Events' [1980], p.xi)

Book Reference

Davidson,Donald: 'Essays on Actions and Events' [OUP 1982], p.-6


A Reaction

Davidson seems to be the one who put mental causation at the centre of philosophy. By then denying that there are any 'psycho-physical' laws, he seems to me to have re-opened the metaphysical gap he says he was trying to close.