Single Idea 7865

[catalogued under 17. Mind and Body / D. Property Dualism / 5. Supervenience of mind]

Full Idea

I would argue that any benefits offered by the notion of supervenience are more easily gained simply by identifying mental properties directly with higher-order properties or disjunctions of physical properties.

Clarification

A 'disjunction' is an 'either..or' statement

Gist of Idea

Supervenience can be replaced by identifying mind with higher-order or disjunctional properties

Source

David Papineau (Thinking about Consciousness [2002], 1.8)

Book Reference

Papineau,David: 'Thinking about Consciousness' [OUP 2004], p.36


A Reaction

Those who talk of supervenience seem to me to have retreated into a mystery that is not far from substance dualism. We want the explanation of a supervenience. If you accompany me everywhere, I think you are stalking me, or are tied to my ankle.