Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Dependencies, Connections, and Other Relations

A Theory of Mental Causation

  • Book
  • © 2003

Overview

Authors:
  1. Wim Muijnck

    1. Tilburg and Nijmegen University, The Netherlands

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Part of the book series: Philosophical Studies Series (PSSP, volume 93)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (21 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxxiii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Ontology

    1. Front Matter

      Pages xxxv-xxxv
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Particulars, Properties, and Relations

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 1-13

    3. Physicalism

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 15-23

    4. A Layered World

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 25-40

  3. Causality

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 41-42
      Download chapter PDF

    2. A Duality in the Concept of Causality

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 43-51

    3. Causal Dependence

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 53-71

    4. Causal Connection

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 73-86

    5. Unifying Dependence and Connection

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 87-100

    6. Causation and Natural Law

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 101-113

    7. The Problem of Causal Relata

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 115-123

    8. Getting Events Wrong

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 125-136

    9. Getting Events Right

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 137-146

    10. Relations as Causal Relata

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 147-154

    11. Causal Efficacy

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 155-168

    12. Supervenient Causation

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 169-179

  4. Mind

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 181-182
      Download chapter PDF

    2. The Concept of Mind

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 183-198

    3. Against the Computational Theory

      • Wim De Muijnck
      Pages 199-210
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

The text before you is a study ofthe problematic issue ofmental causation: causation by minds. On hearing the expression 'mental causation,' you may at first think ofsomething like bending spoons by 'psychic' powers. But no, we are dealing here with something much more puzzling: doing things for reasons, i. e. , what we call agency. Psychic spoon-bending would be a fairly straightforward issue. You just exert some psychic force and bend a spoon, just like you might bend it by hand, i. e. , by physical force. The only trouble here is that psychic forces may not be in fact available '. But now you fetch an umbrella because you expect that it will rain. How does that work? Some­ how, it seems, you let an expectation move your limbs. But aren't your limbs already moved by nerve impulses and muscle contractions? And are expecta­ tions the proper kind ofitems to move things around? Mental causation is an issue that is at the heart ofthe mind-body problem, the problem of making it clear how minded creatures such as we are possi­ ble, and what our mindedness consists in. Unlike psychic spoon-bending, mental causation happens every day. At least, pretty much of what we take for granted about ourselves can only be right when mental causation really happens.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Tilburg and Nijmegen University, The Netherlands

    Wim Muijnck

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Dependencies, Connections, and Other Relations

  • Book Subtitle: A Theory of Mental Causation

  • Authors: Wim Muijnck

  • Series Title: Philosophical Studies Series

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0121-1

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2003

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4020-1391-1Published: 31 July 2003

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-90-481-6326-7Published: 28 October 2010

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-017-0121-1Published: 09 March 2013

  • Series ISSN: 0921-8599

  • Series E-ISSN: 2542-8349

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXXVI, 288

  • Topics: Philosophy of Mind, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Science

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation