Combining Texts

Ideas for 'works', 'Lewis: reduction of mind (on himself)' and 'Introduction to Philosophical Papers II'

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3 ideas

7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 2. Reduction
The whole truth supervenes on the physical truth [Lewis]
     Full Idea: The whole truth supervenes on the physical truth.
     From: David Lewis (Lewis: reduction of mind (on himself) [1994], p.412)
     A reaction: This seems to me the central truth about brains, and we should not be lured into abandoning it. We should not, however, exclude the possibility that there is a non-physical reality.
7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 5. Supervenience / b. Types of supervenience
Where pixels make up a picture, supervenience is reduction [Lewis]
     Full Idea: In the case of millions of pixels making up a picture on a computer screen, the supervenience is reduction.
     From: David Lewis (Lewis: reduction of mind (on himself) [1994], p.414)
     A reaction: Since 'supervenience' seems a suspect relationship about which no one is clear, this is a point very much worth making.
7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 5. Supervenience / d. Humean supervenience
Humean supervenience says the world is just a vast mosaic of qualities in space-time [Lewis]
     Full Idea: Humean supervenience says the world is a vast mosaic of local matters of particular fact. We have a geometry of external relations of spatio-temporal distance between points, and local qualities at points. …In short: we have an arrangement of qualities.
     From: David Lewis (Introduction to Philosophical Papers II [1986], p.ix-x)
     A reaction: [compressed] This is the key fundamental tenet of David Lewis's philosophy. He names it after Hume because it contains no necessary connections. It is 'supervenient' because all worldly truths reduce to and depend on the mosaic. His thesis is contingent.