Combining Texts

Ideas for 'On the Philosophy of Logic', 'Every Thing Must Go' and 'On Nature Itself (De Ipsa Natura)'

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2 ideas

17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 3. Panpsychism
Something rather like souls (though not intelligent) could be found everywhere [Leibniz]
     Full Idea: Nor is there any reason why souls or things analogous to souls should not be everywhere, even if dominant and consequently intelligent souls, like human souls, cannot be everywhere.
     From: Gottfried Leibniz (On Nature Itself (De Ipsa Natura) [1698], §12)
     A reaction: He is always flirting with panpsychism, though he doesn't seem to offer any account of how these little baby souls can be built up to create one intelligent soul, the latter being indivisible. 'Souls' are very different from things 'analous to souls'!
17. Mind and Body / D. Property Dualism / 4. Emergentism
Science is opposed to downward causation [Ladyman/Ross]
     Full Idea: When someone pronounces for downward causation they are in opposition to science.
     From: J Ladyman / D Ross (Every Thing Must Go [2007], 1.6 n54)
     A reaction: Downward causation is the key issue in any debate about whether minds exhibit excitingly 'emergent' properties that somehow put them outside the realm of normal physics. I take that to be nonsense, and I side with science here.