Reductionism

Emergentism Proyash Sarkar Emergentism refers to a wide range of theories—right from dualism to physicalism. We shall see below that the basic contention of emergentism is neutral about the dualism/physicalism debate. Roughly speaking, emergentism about the mental is the claim that the mental is an emergent property of the physical. It arises out of the basal property, i.e. the physical, yet retains its independence, in the sense that it has its independent causal power. Thus the mental has its…

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbours up. (Thoreau, 1966, p. 84) 1.1 Background of the study Transcendentalism flourished in New England as a philosophical, religious and literary movement in the early middle of the nineteenth century. Transcendentalism was an American movement in that it corresponded to the beliefs of American individualism.…