PHIL 5973:  Mental Causation Seminar
Eric Funkhouser
Basic Terms Handout
9/2/03
 

(Global) Supervenience:  Properties A (globally) supervene on properties B if, and only if:  Among worlds where no natural properties alien to our world are instantiated, no two differ with respect to A properties without differing with respect to B properties; any two such worlds that are exactly alike in their B properties are exactly alike in their A properties as well.
 

Minimal Physicalism:  The view that all mental properties supervene on physical properties.
 

Multiple Realizability:  Properties A are multiply realized with respect to properties B if, and only if:  i)  A properties are “realized in” B properties (minimally:  A properties supervene on B properties), and ii)  each A property is co-extensive with multiple B properties.
 

One-way Necessitation (roughly, Non-reductionism):  This is the combination of Minimal Physicalism and Multiple Realizability.
 

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