Philosophy of mind and the problem of free will in the light of quantum mechanics
arXiv Preprint Archive May 1, 2008 via arXiv
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThe paper examines arguments by John Searle and Jaegwon Kim regarding whether a person's conscious thoughts can be fully reduced to physical processes in the brain. It describes defects introduced by quantum mechanics into the debate about mental causation and the completeness of physical explanation. The authors contend that quantum considerations challenge the assumption that conscious thought can be entirely explained by physical brain activity.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Physics.gen-ph |
| Key finding | Argues that quantum mechanics introduces defects that undermine the complete reducibility of conscious thought to physical brain processes. |
Abstract
Defects occasioned by the advent of quantum mechanics are described in detail of recent arguments by John Searle and by Jaegwon Kim pertaining to the question of the complete reducibility to the physical of the apparent capacity of a person's conscious thoughts to affect the behaviour of that person's physically described brain.