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Strong Emergentism: (weak) Dependence & (strong) autonomy (irreducibility, non-linearity, multiple realizability
In one respect, I, as an individual, AM dependent on underlying “lower-level”
physical structures/microentities (their configurations) & the laws that govern their behavior. And yet in another respect, I transcend those entities and laws by exhibiting thoroughly AUTONOMOUS properties and behaviors that EMERGE nonlinearly from the aggregation of those underlying structures/entities.
Novel “over and above” properties non-linearly emerge with my behavior – dependent (nomologically, and not metaphysically) on base-level events, yet are (strongly) autonomous.
Multiple realizability thesis: The idea of many-to-one mapping from physical states to mental states.
The mental state of, for instance, this headache I have today is realized physically, but in a different physical form from the headache I had last week i.e., it is multiply realized: same mental state but different physical state.
Thus, mental states cannot be reduced to physical states.
Therefore, strong emergentism?
Putnam's Argument:
That I can imagine/conceive of alien beings or AI robots composed of different physical stuff, and, therefore don’t share the neurochemistry of humans, but who are, nevertheless, capable of sharing our human psychological states means multiple realizability is possible.
This stance generally denies Physical Causal Closure, maintaining that emergent features are non-redundant causal contributors alongside lower-level physical factors to some lower-level physical effects
#emergentism #consciousness #philosophy #MultipleRealizability
#PrettyGnosticMachine
