Steward, HC orcid.org/0000-0003-1654-577X (2017) Action as Downward Causation. Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement, 80. pp. 195-215. ISSN 1358-2461
Abstract
In this paper, I try to argue that the recognition that non-human animals are relevant to the free will problem delivers interesting new ways of thinking about the central metaphysical issues at the heart of that problem. Some such dividends, I suggest, are the following: (i) that the problem of free will can be considered to be just a more specific version of a general question concerning how agency is to be fitted into the natural world; (ii) that action can be usefully regarded as an especially interesting form of downward causation; and that (iii) the metaphysical possibility of downward causation, and hence, indirectly, also of free will, can be illuminated in valuable ways by thinking about the hierarchical structure of, and systems of functioning within, biological organisms.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2017, The Royal Institute of Philosophy and the contributors. This article has been published in a revised form in the Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements [https://doi.org/10.1017/S1358246117000145]. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. |
Keywords: | action; downward causation; agency; free will; determinism |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) > School of Philosophy (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Arts & Humanities Research Council AHRC AH/M005569/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 08 Feb 2017 15:31 |
Last Modified: | 02 Jul 2017 16:54 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S1358246117000145 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:112050 |