anomalism

Now, the clearest appearance of the causal closure thesis comes when Davidson is offering the official argument for the anomalism principle (Davidson 1970, 222).

Anomalous Monism Yalowitz, Steven 2005

He can respond that we already know, a priori, that any particular mental event must instantiate some physical property if it causally interacts with any mental or physical event, given the cause-law and anomalism principles.

Anomalous Monism Yalowitz, Steven 2005

That mental event is also a physical event (as is the action it explains), according to Anomalous Monism, because it stands in causal relations (the interaction principle), and thus (given the cause-law and anomalism principles) must instantiate physical

Anomalous Monism Yalowitz, Steven 2005

Davidson offered loose ruminations concerning rationality and rationalizing explanations, which purportedly constitute the very nature of mental properties, in support of the anomalism principle

Anomalous Monism Yalowitz, Steven 2005

The anomalism principle states that there are no strict laws on the basis of which mental events can predict, explain, or be predicted or explained by other events.

Anomalous Monism Yalowitz, Steven 2005

But it does seem to be an attractive way of reconciling supervenience with mental anomalism so that Anomalous Monism remains a consistent theory.

Anomalous Monism Yalowitz, Steven 2005

One key reason for so limiting the reach of Anomalous Monism, as we shall see (4.2), is that it is the rational status of the relevant mental events that Davidson usually cites as responsible for mental anomalism.

Anomalous Monism Yalowitz, Steven 2005

We have been looking at different ways of making sense of and justifying Davidson's claim that mental anomalism stems from the constitutive role of rationality in mental ascription.

Anomalous Monism Yalowitz, Steven 2005

Psychophysical anomalism, the other component of mental anomalism and the one that denies the possibility of such strict laws, is thus the view that Davidson focuses on establishing.

Anomalous Monism Yalowitz, Steven 2005

That is true of Davidson's argument for monism shorn of any commitment to causal closure: someone who espouses dualism along with the cause-law, interaction, and anomalism principles but eschews causal closure is nevertheless shown by that argument that dualism is inconsistent with her other commitments.

Anomalous Monism Yalowitz, Steven 2005