Emergence and Consciousness
Philosophy October 1, 2013 Patrick Lewtas 13 citations
Emergentism, the idea that higher-level properties arise from lower-level ones in a way that is not fully reducible, is often defined in epistemological terms, which leads to confusion about its metaphysical validity. This paper offers purely metaphysical definitions of emergentism and property emergence, examining the necessitation relation between base and emergent properties. It argues that emergentism implies a Humean view of causation. The paper then presents arguments against emergentism, both as a general metaphysics and as an account of consciousness, claiming it makes implausible claims about how the world works. It notes that most current property dualists hold views effectively identical to classical emergentism, minus its historical commitment to novel emergent forces.