A Physicalist Manifesto: Thoroughly Modern Materialism

by Andrew Melnyk

• ISBN13: 9780521038942
• ISBN10: 0521038944
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-08-06
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Provides the fullest formulation of a comprehensive physicalist view to date ^ Evaluates the empirical standing of physicalism in unprecedented detail Self-contained and thesis-driven discussions, accessible to graduate and advanced undergraduate students, make it an ideal seminar text A Physicalist Manifesto is the fullest yet of the comprehensive physicalist view that, in some important sense, everything is physical. Andrew Melnyk argues that the view is best formulated by appeal to carefully worked-out notion of realization, rather than supervenience; that, so forumlated, physicalism must be importantly reductionist; that it need not repudiate causal and explanatory claims framed in non-physical language; and that it has the a posterior epistemic status of a broad-scope scientific hypothesis. Two concluding chapters argue in inprecedented detail that contemporary science provides no significant empirical evidence against physicalism and some considerable evidence for it. Written in brisk, candid and exceptionally clear style, this book should appeal to professionals and students in philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and philosophy of science.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Realization physicalism

But why not supervenience?

Realizationism and r*d*ct**n*sm

Causation and explanation in a realizationist world

The evidence against realization physicalism

The evidence for realization physicalism

References

Index

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