Upward and Downward Causation from a Relational-Horizontal Ontological Perspective

Verfasser / Beitragende:
[Gil Santos]
Ort, Verlag, Jahr:
2015
Enthalten in:
Axiomathes, 25/1(2015-03-01), 23-40
Format:
Artikel (online)
ID: 605475113
LEADER caa a22 4500
001 605475113
003 CHVBK
005 20210128100350.0
007 cr unu---uuuuu
008 210128e20150301xx s 000 0 eng
024 7 0 |a 10.1007/s10516-014-9251-x  |2 doi 
035 |a (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10516-014-9251-x 
100 1 |a Santos  |D Gil  |u Centro de Filosofia das Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal  |4 aut 
245 1 0 |a Upward and Downward Causation from a Relational-Horizontal Ontological Perspective  |h [Elektronische Daten]  |c [Gil Santos] 
520 3 |a Downward causation (DC) exercised by emergent properties of wholes upon their lower-level constituents' properties has been accused of conceptual and metaphysical incoherence. Only upward causation is usually peacefully accepted. The aim of this paper is to criticize and refuse (1) the traditional hierarchical-vertical way of conceiving both types of causation, although preserving their deepest ontological significance, as well as (2) the widespread acceptance of the traditional atomistic-combinatorial view of the entities and the relations that constitute the so-called ‘emergence base'. Assuming those two perspectives with no reserves, we are condemned to confine our debate to the question of whether reified wholes can have the power to downwardly change or influence their lower-level parts, a question which seems profoundly misleading to me. I therefore propose an alternative relational ontological view, assuming a straightforward horizontal and intra-level way of representing those putative cases of cross-level causation. I finally confront two recent replies to Kim's well-known objections to DC—Craver and Bechtel (Biol Philos 22:547-563, 2007) and Kistler (Philos Psychol 22(5):595-609, 2009)—, emphasizing their global positive approaches, as well as the reasons why their accounts still seem insufficient to me. I conclude arguing that both Kim's principle of the causal closure of the physical domain and its allegation of an overdetermination in cases of DC can be surpassed by the new relational ontological perspective presented here. 
540 |a Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, 2014 
690 7 |a Downward causation  |2 nationallicence 
690 7 |a Upward causation  |2 nationallicence 
690 7 |a Atomism  |2 nationallicence 
690 7 |a Qualitative change  |2 nationallicence 
690 7 |a Relational ontology  |2 nationallicence 
773 0 |t Axiomathes  |d Springer Netherlands  |g 25/1(2015-03-01), 23-40  |x 1122-1151  |q 25:1<23  |1 2015  |2 25  |o 10516 
856 4 0 |u https://doi.org/10.1007/s10516-014-9251-x  |q text/html  |z Onlinezugriff via DOI 
898 |a BK010053  |b XK010053  |c XK010000 
900 7 |a Metadata rights reserved  |b Springer special CC-BY-NC licence  |2 nationallicence 
908 |D 1  |a research-article  |2 jats 
949 |B NATIONALLICENCE  |F NATIONALLICENCE  |b NL-springer 
950 |B NATIONALLICENCE  |P 856  |E 40  |u https://doi.org/10.1007/s10516-014-9251-x  |q text/html  |z Onlinezugriff via DOI 
950 |B NATIONALLICENCE  |P 100  |E 1-  |a Santos  |D Gil  |u Centro de Filosofia das Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal  |4 aut 
950 |B NATIONALLICENCE  |P 773  |E 0-  |t Axiomathes  |d Springer Netherlands  |g 25/1(2015-03-01), 23-40  |x 1122-1151  |q 25:1<23  |1 2015  |2 25  |o 10516