Physicalism Deconstructed
Levels of Reality and the Mind–Body Problem

Provides a philosophical and historical critique of contemporary conceptions of physicalism, especially non-reductive, levels-based approaches to physicalist metaphysics.

Kevin Morris (Author)

9781108472166, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 29 November 2018

274 pages, 14 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.6 x 2 cm, 0.53 kg

Advance praise: 'Physicalism Deconstructed is a beautifully clear and readable book that throws down the gauntlet for physicalists to accept the consequences of their core commitments. Kevin Morris advances an unexpectedly persuasive argument that the world according to physics really is all the world. This challenge to the layer cake view of reality cannot be ignored.' Thomas Polger, University of Cincinnati

How should thought and consciousness be understood within a view of the world as being through-and-through physical? Many philosophers have proposed non-reductive, levels-based positions, according to which the physical domain is fundamental, while thought and consciousness are higher-level processes, dependent on and determined by physical processes. In this book, Kevin Morris's careful philosophical and historical critique shows that it is very difficult to make good metaphysical sense of this idea - notions like supervenience, physical realization, and grounding all fail to articulate a viable non-reductive, levels-based physicalism. Challenging assumptions about the mind-body problem and providing new perspectives on the debate over physicalism, this accessible and comprehensive book will interest scholars working in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science.

Introduction
1. Supervenience and non-reductive physicalism
2. Non-reductive physicalism and the exclusion problem
3. Functional realization
4. Subset realization
5. Grounding and physicalism
6. The rise of non-reductive physicalism
7. The physicalist problematic reconsidered
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Philosophy of science [PDA], Philosophy of mind [HPM], Philosophy of language [CFA]