Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
An Encounter Between Aristotle And Contemporary Philosophy of Mind The Case of Reductive Physicalism As Espoused By Jaegwon Kim
Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria 2020.
Saved in:
| Other Authors: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Pretoria
2020
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613510962249728 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Ruttkamp-Bloem, Emma |
| author_browse | Ruttkamp-Bloem, Emma |
| author_facet | Ruttkamp-Bloem, Emma |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria 2020. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/74925 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:37:18.340Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publishDateRange | 2020 |
| publishDateSort | 2020 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/74925 An Encounter Between Aristotle And Contemporary Philosophy of Mind The Case of Reductive Physicalism As Espoused By Jaegwon Kim Ruttkamp-Bloem, Emma eugene.oguamanam@yahoo.com Oguamanam, Eugene Ezenwa UCTD Philosophy of Mind Mind-Body Problem Reductive and Non-Reductive Physicalism Phenomenal consciousness Causal Closure Argument Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria 2020. I argue in this thesis that Aristotle’s hylomorphic metaphysics, supported by his theory of causality and his theory of the soul (De Anima), holds the key to solving the problem of mental causation in contemporary philosophy of mind. A core aspect of the contemporary mind-body problem is the problem of mental causation (how does the mind interact with the body to cause actions in humans). Without mental causation, in the realist sense of the word, it is difficult to see how humans are held responsible for their actions. There have been different approaches to solving the mind-body problem, but each has met with its own set of problems, except, I argue, Aristotle’s hylomorphism. Jaegwon Kim argues that Davidson’s anomalous monism cum supervenience renders mental causation epiphenomenal, and that a mental state is causally efficacious only when reduced to the physical properties. I argue that it is the phenomenal consciousness that accounts for our actions, and while neither Davidson’s nor Kim’s accounts of action can adequately deal with phenomenal consciousness, Aristotle’s metaphysics can. I argue that the ancient and neo-Aristotelian notion of self-knowledge is akin to our contemporary notion of phenomenal consciousness and that Aristotle saves the notion of autonomous mental causation through his theory of hylomorphism that holds every substance is a composite of matter (body) and form (soul). My thesis is thus a novel invitation to rethink Aristotle’s psychology and philosophy of mind in the context of contemporary philosophy of mind. University of Pretoria(Postgraduate Bursary (2017-2018) Philosophy DPhil Unrestricted 2020-06-09T20:21:42Z 2020-06-09T20:21:42Z 2020 2020 Thesis Oguamanam, EE 2020, An Encounter Between Aristotle And Contemporary Philosophy of Mind The Case of Reductive Physicalism As Espoused By Jaegwon Kim, DPhil Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/74925> S2020 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/74925 en © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD Philosophy of Mind Mind-Body Problem Reductive and Non-Reductive Physicalism Phenomenal consciousness Causal Closure Argument An Encounter Between Aristotle And Contemporary Philosophy of Mind The Case of Reductive Physicalism As Espoused By Jaegwon Kim |
| title | An Encounter Between Aristotle And Contemporary Philosophy of Mind The Case of Reductive Physicalism As Espoused By Jaegwon Kim |
| title_full | An Encounter Between Aristotle And Contemporary Philosophy of Mind The Case of Reductive Physicalism As Espoused By Jaegwon Kim |
| title_fullStr | An Encounter Between Aristotle And Contemporary Philosophy of Mind The Case of Reductive Physicalism As Espoused By Jaegwon Kim |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Encounter Between Aristotle And Contemporary Philosophy of Mind The Case of Reductive Physicalism As Espoused By Jaegwon Kim |
| title_short | An Encounter Between Aristotle And Contemporary Philosophy of Mind The Case of Reductive Physicalism As Espoused By Jaegwon Kim |
| title_sort | encounter between aristotle and contemporary philosophy of mind the case of reductive physicalism as espoused by jaegwon kim |
| topic | UCTD Philosophy of Mind Mind-Body Problem Reductive and Non-Reductive Physicalism Phenomenal consciousness Causal Closure Argument |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/74925 |