Questions tagged [reductionism]
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Under reductionist physicalism, how would you approach and distinguish between these examples of the representing/encoding of information/knowledge?
Let’s consider these 4 hypotheses.
I sculpt on a stone the map of the continents of Earth with a good degree of detail. The shapes present on the map correspond to a true state of affairs. Is this ...
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Does Sam Harris' view of No Self run at odds with his ethics?
Mostly from this thread, it was a mistake to ask the sub of his about it: https://www.reddit.com/r/samharris/comments/1rpe6ij/comment/o9l59kp/?context=1
But it's from this video: https://iai.tv/video/...
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What is the relationship between emergence and supervenience?
In philosophy, what is the relationship between emergence and supervenience? If one is present, must the other be present? For example, it seems like a candidate for a weak reductionism principle is ...
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Can analogies be applied to everything?
Is there a limit on the creation of an analogy to explain any concept fairly accurately and intuitively? Normally humans create analogies to aid the understanding of a complicated concept at an ...
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A new definition of “strong emergence” is needed
The simple definition of emergence, in which a system exhibits a different - emergent - behaviour than each of its constituent parts, regularly raises questions.
For example, it is certainly not the ...
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What criteria have philosophers of religion proposed for distinguishing authentic spirituality from mere neurochemical processes?
A recent question explored whether God could be real and present in sublime (or "spiritual") experiences reported across different religions and cultures. Some answers, such as this one and ...
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Terminology question: Reductionism top-down vs. ...what, bottom-up?
I want to focus on a terminology point rather than re-fighting the reductionism war. But I think I need to spell out the context for my question. I'm trying to be fair to both sides, and this is as ...
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What's the difference between ontological, methodogical and theory reductionism
Wikipedia's article on Reductionism differs between forms of reduction:
(at the time of this question):
Ontological reductionism
Methodological reductionism
Theory reductionism
The answer should ...
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Is rigid-body physics reductionist or non-reductionist? [closed]
Consider this imaginary physics challenge:
Assume there is a pen and a pencil lying flat on my desk in a perfect line, horizontally aligned to my view, touching, pencil on the right of the pen. The ...
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Are there "levels" of reality in physics or is everything just reductive and explainable by just appealing to quantum physics? [closed]
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tPqQdLCuxanjhoaNs/reductionism#vM59Y3K2ki6sSvAxu
Simply put the link is suggesting that what we call levels is really just simplified models to help us navigate reality....
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Are all natural sciences reducible to physics?
Are all other natural sciences besides physics, reducible to physics? The main reason I am asking this question is because I am wondering whether there are laws of nature which are not laws of physics....
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Quantum measurement as an emergence [closed]
While reading about emergence and physics, I came to the conclusion that, in a sense, basic quantum mechanics imply emergent properties, quite possibly emergent properties that could classify as ...
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Why does reductionism have such a bad reputation? [closed]
Why is it that the philosophical position of reductionism has a bad reputation? It may not necessarily be true, but that does not explain why believing in reductionism is considered bad. Reductionism ...
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Is there any physicalist interpretation of qualia?
Qualia is said to be a counterargument to the pure physicalist worldview: even though I can perfectly see everyone else as pure philosophical zombies with smart neuron systems, I, the one writing this ...
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Do reductive materialists believe that consciousness is "reducible in principle" to the Standard Model of particle physics?
From Wikipedia:
The Standard Model of particle physics is the theory describing three of the four known fundamental forces (electromagnetic, weak and strong interactions – excluding gravity) in the ...
user80226