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Content and Causal Powers
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 April 2022
Abstract
Owens (1993) argues that a tension exists between our commonsense view of mental states and the scientific view that psychological explanations not contradict supervenience. He suggests that one cannot accept the anti-individualistic conclusions of Twin-Earth thought experiments and continue to use folk psychological states to explain behavior. I argue that his conclusions are based on individuating content widely and causal powers narrowly, and that such individuation violates consistency assumptions about the terms of his discussion. Thus, I argue, the tension he points to evaporates when we adopt either a consistently wide view or a consistently narrow view.
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- Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1994
Footnotes
I am indebted to Larry Shapiro, Doug Smith, and Brian Brost for their comments and discussion.
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