PHILOS 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Type Physicalism, Mental Property, Epiphenomenalism
Document Summary
Sensations are private, but brain processes are public. It is hard to believe that public terms like neurotransmitters would explain private phenomena. We have no sufficient language, but we will soon be able to account for private phenomena in public terms. There is no empirical way to decide between the two views, the identity theory and epiphenomenalism. Nevertheless, despite the fact that both views are logically possible, since contemporary sciences favor identity theory (ex. Smart"s identity theory is often labeled as "type identity theory" because he claims that mental properties and brain properties are type-identical (they are of the same physical kind) An "ontological reduction" involves the claim that the things in one domain (ex. Mental things) are identical with some of the things in another domain. We can argue that heat is just mean molecular kinetic energy. They are the same thing, although they seem different, electricity and magnetism are the same force, electromagnetism.
