What is epiphenomenon theory?
Epiphenomenalism is the view that mental events are caused by physical events in the brain, but have no effects upon any physical events. Huxley (1874), who held the view, compared mental events to a steam whistle that contributes nothing to the work of a locomotive.
What is epiphenomenon philosophy?
Epiphenomenalism is a position in the philosophy of mind according to which mental states or events are caused by physical states or events in the brain but do not themselves cause anything.
What does the word epiphenomenon mean?
Definition of epiphenomenon : a secondary phenomenon accompanying another and caused by it specifically : a secondary mental phenomenon that is caused by and accompanies a physical phenomenon but has no causal influence itself.
What is qualia Epiphenomenalism?
What It Means to Say Qualia are Epiphenomenal. Physicalism assumes that mental events have a genuine causal role. For example, according to the physicalist picture, C-fiber stimulation actually does something in the body; it causes other bodily events. Physicalists also usually assume that qualia function causally.
What Mary didnt know Frank Jackson?
The knowledge argument (also known as Mary’s room or Mary the super-scientist) is a philosophical thought experiment proposed by Frank Jackson in his article “Epiphenomenal Qualia” (1982) and extended in “What Mary Didn’t Know” (1986).
What is epiphenomenalism in philosophy?
In philosophy of mind, epiphenomenalism is the view that mental phenomena are epiphenomena in that they can be caused by physical phenomena, but cannot cause physical phenomena. In strong epiphenomenalism, epiphenomena that are mental phenomena can only be caused by physical phenomena, not by other mental phenomena.
How do contemporary thinkers respond to the central motivation for epiphenomenalism?
Many contemporary thinkers would respond to the central motivation for epiphenomenalism by denying its dualistic presupposition, i.e., by holding that mental events are identical with physical events, and may therefore have physical effects. Questions that remain for such physicalistic views will be explained in section 3.
Was “epiphenomenalism” introduced by Huxley?
In Carington (1949), H. H. Price expresses his belief that the term “epiphenomenalism” was introduced by T. H. Huxley. It is interesting, therefore, that the term “epiphenomenalism” does not occur in Huxley’s (1874) essay on our topic; nor have I been able to find it elsewhere in his published work.
Is there an epiphenomenal law?
Pauen’s focus is on the epiphenomenalists’ claim that there are laws linking the occurrence of neural events of certain kinds with occurrences of qualitative events. Since epiphenomenalists deny the identity of qualia and physical properties, such laws are not only contingent, but independent of physical laws.