Reductive levels and multi-scale structure.
Abstract I discuss arguments about the relationship between different “levels” of explanation in the light of examples involving multi-scale analysis. I focus on arguments about causal competition between properties at different levels, such as Jaegwon Kim’s “supervenience argument.” A central feat...
| Publicado en: | Synthese Vol. 165; no. 1; pp. 53 - 76 |
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| Autor principal: | |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Springer Nature
Nov2008
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| Sumario: | Abstract I discuss arguments about the relationship between different “levels” of explanation in the light of examples involving multi-scale analysis. I focus on arguments about causal competition between properties at different levels, such as Jaegwon Kim’s “supervenience argument.” A central feature of Kim’s argument is that higher-level properties can in general be identified with “micro-based” properties. I argue that explanations from multi-scale analysis give examples of explanations that are problematic for accounts such as Kim’s. I argue that these difficulties suggest that some standard assumptions about causal competition need to be revised. |
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