The Causal Exclusion Problem

The exclusion problem argues that if the physical world is causally complete, mental properties are left with no causal work to do.

Definition

The causal exclusion problem is the argument that, given the causal closure of the physical and a ban on systematic overdetermination, an irreducible mental property is excluded from causing any physical effect that already has a sufficient physical cause.

Scope

This topic covers Kim's causal exclusion argument and its premises of causal closure, exclusion, and the irreducibility of the mental, the overdetermination response, and proportionality and interventionist replies that aim to preserve mental causal relevance.

Core questions

• If a physical effect has a sufficient physical cause, what causal role is left for the mental?
• Is treating mental and physical causes as both sufficient a case of objectionable overdetermination?
• Can the argument be blocked by identifying mental with physical properties?
• Do proportionality or interventionist accounts rescue mental causation?

Key concepts

• causal closure
• exclusion principle
• overdetermination
• proportionality
• interventionism
• epiphenomenalism

Key theories

The exclusion argument

From causal closure, the exclusion principle, and the distinctness of the mental, it follows that mental properties cannot cause physical effects unless they are identical to physical properties.

Proportionality response

Mental properties can be causes because they are proportional to their effects, capturing what makes the difference where the underlying physical detail does not.

History

Kim (1998, 2005) developed the exclusion argument as a challenge to non-reductive physicalism, contending that only reduction or identity can secure mental causal efficacy. Responses include Yablo's (1992) proportionality account and List and Menzies's (2009) interventionist case that exclusion fails in general.

Debates

Overdetermination

Whether mental and physical causes systematically overdetermine their effects, and whether such overdetermination is genuinely objectionable.

Escaping exclusion

Whether proportionality or interventionist accounts of causation allow irreducible mental properties to be genuine causes.

Key figures

• Jaegwon Kim
• Stephen Yablo
• Christian List
• Peter Menzies

Seminal works

• yablo1992
• kim1998
• kim2005

Frequently asked questions

What is the exclusion principle?

It is the principle that no single effect has more than one sufficient cause at a given time, except in genuine cases of overdetermination, which the exclusion argument treats as unacceptable for mental and physical causes.