The hidden premise in the causal argument for physicalism

Analysis 66 (1):44-52 (2005)
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Abstract

The causal argument for physicalism is anayzed and it's key premise--the causal closure of physics--is found wanting. Therefore, a hidden premise must be added to the argument to gain its conclusion, but the hidden premise is indistinguishable from the conclusion of the causal argument. Therefore, it begs the question on physicalism.

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Robert Bishop
Wheaton College, Illinois

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Thinking About Consciousness.David Papineau - 2002 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press UK.
From Metaphysics to Ethics: A Defence of Conceptual Analysis.Frank Jackson - 1999 - Philosophical Quarterly 49 (197):539-542.
Thinking about Consciousness.David Papineau - 2002 - Philosophical Quarterly 54 (215):333-335.
Thinking about Consciousness.Diana Raffman - 2005 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 71 (1):171-186.

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