emergence

Question 1

emergence

Answer 1

Emergentism = Every mental phenomenon has a physical base. However, some mental phenomena are neither identical with this base nor are they realized by it.

is primarily an epistemological concept, not metaphysical

• a physical phenomena that cannot be explained
• when sth. is understood, that cannot be explained
• you can say under which conditions certain properties react/work but not why

i.e. geological properties might be emergent from quantum physics, in that we can deduce these properties from facts about quantum states

Question 2

emergent phenomena

Answer 2

• phenomenal qualities
• intentionality
• connectionism
• artificial life
• robots
• dynamical systems
• maybe: novelty, unexpectedness, unpredictability, irreducibility, unintended or unprogrammed arising

Question 3

epistemology

Answer 3

what is and how can we gain knowledge? what kind of knowledge is accessible to us?

Question 4

metaphysics/ontology

Answer 4

Which entities exist (mental ones?)? What is the real nature of an entity x? How do certain entities relate (mind-body)? Do certain entities possess a causal power?
Can we reduce mental entities to physical ones?

i.e. the problem of whether or not consciousness is a physical property is an ontological problem

Question 5

emergence works with reductive expalanation. true or false?

Answer 5

false

Question 6

emergence allows for the explanatory gap. true or false?

Answer 6

true

Question 7

What is the relationship between emergence and reductionism? emergence and physicalism?

Answer 7

a proposition does not reduce to its base , however every mental phenomenon has a physical base

• Emergent properties can’t be reductively explained, but they can be fundamentally physical.