the theory of natural individuals the mcdonald’s version gregg rosenberg

The Theory of Natural The Theory of Natural IndividualsIndividuals

The McDonald’s Version

Gregg Rosenberg

The Theory of Natural The Theory of Natural IndividualsIndividuals

The Theory of Causal SignificanceThe Carrier Theory of CausationThe Consciousness Hypothesis

Russell/Whitehead ViewRussell/Whitehead View

Russell = Physics is structureWhitehead = “Vacuous” actuality is not

possibleImplies: Physical entities have intrinsic

content not specified by physics

Questions raisedQuestions raised

The “combination” problem– How could intrinsic content exist at a middle level?

Panexperientialism– When is intrinsic content experiential, and why?

Other peculiar features– Unity– Correspondence to information structure– Subjective Instant

The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal SignificanceSignificance

Causal Significance = The constraint the occurrence of an event (or the presence of an individual) places on the possible ways the world could be.

Nomic Content = The properties a thing has which contribute to its causal significance– Effective Properties– Receptive Properties

Nomic ContentNomic Content

Basic tenet: Considered in themselves, effective and receptive properties each have an incomplete nature.

Effective PropertiesEffective Properties

Incomplete determinable properties– Multiple potential values

Intrinsic relations of compatibility, inclusion, and exclusion

EffectiveSide

EffectiveSide

Recept.Side

Recept.Side

EffectiveProperties

EffectiveProperties

???No

Connection

A ReceptiveConnection

Receptive Properties

Special properties whose instances can bind to more than one individual at a time.

Binding creates a new individual to whom the receptivity belongs.

The Importance of BindingThe Importance of Binding

Determinable becomes more determinateIncomplete becomes more complete

Two Fundamental Causal Two Fundamental Causal PrinciplesPrinciples

Determination indicates completeness.Individuals seek completeness.

Receptive Connections Receptive Connections areare Causal ConnectionsCausal Connections

Each receptive connection makes the world more determinate by reducing the possible joint-states of the individuals bound to it.

Receptive connections are operators on a space of possibility

The receptive connection of each individual filters the possibilities for the joint-states of its members– Prior possible joint-states posterior possible joint

states– Posterior possible joint-states = x: x є power set of

prior possible joint states

Definition of Natural IndividualDefinition of Natural Individual

Base Case: Any basic effective or receptive property is a natural individual

Inductive Case: Any set of natural individuals sharing a completed receptive connection is a natural individual.

Level ZeroI ndividuals

(basic properties)

Level OneI ndividuals

(the particle level)

Level Two I ndividuals(particle interactions)

MassChargeSpin

Level One(Individual A)

Level One(Individual B)

Level One(Individual C)

Level One(Individual n)

Level Two(Individual Alpha)

Nature is partitioned into individuals atmany levels. Each level's individuals areconstituted by the existence of a shared

receptive connection binding toindividuals from a lower level.

MassCharge Spin MassCharge Spin MassChargeSpin

The Hierarchy of Natural Individuals

Each IndividualPossesses An IrreducibleReceptive Connection

L0

L1

L2

The levels of nature are strongly emergent, not merely constitutive

L0

L1

L2

Causal Responsibility Across Levelsof Nature

MaterialCausation

FinalCausation

Efficient Causation

The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physics

The theory evokes superposition and the measurement problem;

The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physics

The nature of causal significance is consistent with the existence of quantum coherence;

The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physics

The view makes non-local causation seem expected, rather than mysterious or unexpected;

The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physicsNothing in the theory makes irreducible randomness a surprising feature of the world;

The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physics

The spacetime that we could perhaps construct from causal connections would clearly be relativistic;

The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physics

Like QM, the theory dilutes the special ontological importance of the microphysical (as pointed out by Lockwood);

The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physics

The theory’s realism about possibility is consistent with the ability of counterfactual truths to have measurable effects in the quantum world.

The Theory of Causal The Theory of Causal Significance as meta-physicsSignificance as meta-physics

Moral: if causation works the way the Theory of Natural Individuals says, then it is not surprising that our physics looks the way it does.

The Carrier Theory of The Carrier Theory of CausationCausation

Something is a natural individual if, and only if, it is experiencing phenomenal individuals.

The Carrier Theory of The Carrier Theory of CausationCausation

Effective properties are carried by phenomenal properties.

Receptivity is carried by experiential properties.

The Carrier Theory of Causation

The Causal Connection Itself Has A Special Kind of Intrinsic Content Complementary ToThe Physical

How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role

Nomic content(requirement on

Carrier)

1. The possibility of being receptively bound is essential to effective properties.

Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier)  1. The possibility of being

experienced is essential to phenomenal qualities.

How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role

Nomic content(requirement on

Carrier)

 2. Being a receptive individual implies receiving the constraint of effective properties.

Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier)  2.Being an experiencing

subject implies the experiencing of phenomenal qualities.

How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role

Nomic content(requirement on

Carrier)

3. Effective properties are only potential unless actually receptively bound.

Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 3. Phenomenal qualities are

only potential unless actually being experienced.

How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role

Nomic content(requirement on

Carrier)

4. A receptive connection is only potential unless it is binding effective properties.

Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 4. Experience is only

potential unless it is experiencing phenomenal quality.

How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role

Nomic content(requirement on

Carrier)

5. Effective properties are determinables.

Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 5. Phenomenal properties

are determinables.

How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role

Nomic content(requirement on

Carrier)

6. Pure receptive connections are a kind of contentless openness.

Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 6. Phenomenological

reports of the “pure” experiencing subject reveal a kind of contentless openness within pure consciousness.

How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role

Nomic content(requirement on

Carrier)

7. Relations of inclusion, exclusion, compatibility and incompatibility exist between effective properties.

Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 7. Relations of inclusion,

exclusion, compatibility and incompatibility exist between phenomenal properties.

How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role

Nomic content(Requirement on

Carrier)

8. Scalar relations and relations of stipulative difference exist between effective properties.

Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 8. Scalar relations and

relations of intrinsic difference exist between phenomenal properties.

How the experiencing of phenomenal individuals fills the carrier role

Nomic content(Requirement on

Carrier)

9. Despite mutually participating in one another’s nature, effective properties and the receptivity binding of them mark distinct essences.

Phenomenal Property(feature of Carrier) 9. Despite mutually

participating in one another’s nature, phenomenal properties and the experiencing of them mark distinct essences.

= [In-1.1, In-1.2, ......, In-1.j]In.k

In.1

In.2

In.3

Imagine a high-level process:

In.K

In-1.1, In-1.2 ,....., In-1.j

Assume eachindividual In.k has the

internal structure:

The Consciousness Hypothesis

Consciousness is the carrier of a cognitively structured, high-level individual.

The End