Qualia and Mental Causation in a Physical World

How does mind fit into nature? Philosophy has long been concerned with this question. No contemporary philosopher has done more to clarify it than Jaegwon Kim, a distinguished analytic philosopher specializing in metaphysics and philosophy of mind. With new contributions from an outstanding line-up of eminent scholars, this volume focuses on issues raised in Kim's work. The chapters cluster around two themes: first, exclusion, supervenience, and reduction, with attention to the causal exclusion argument for which Kim is widely celebrated; and second, phenomenal consciousness and qualia, with attention to the prospects for a functionalist account of the mental. This volume is sure to become a major focus of attention and research in the disciplines of metaphysics and philosophy of mind.1. Reality and reduction: what's really at stake in the causal exclusion debate Louise Antony; 2. Two property theories and the causal conundrum for physicalism Frank Jackson; 3. Mental causation: the free lunch Barry Loewer; 4. Does mental causation require psychophysical identities? Brian McLaughlin; 5. The Canberra plan neglects ground Ned Block; 6. Microrealization and the mental Sydney Shoemaker; 7. Supervenience and the causal explanation of behavior Fred Dretske; 8. Visual awareness and visual qualia Christopher Hill; 9. Phenomenal externalism, Lolita, and the planet Xenon Michael Tye; 10. Troubles for radical transparency James Van Cleve; 11. How theories work: open questions for methodological philosophy of science Lawrence Sklar.