Dependencies, connections, and other relations:
a theory of mental causation

Wim De Muijnck

 

When we do things for reasons, our behaviour seems to be caused by mental states such as beliefs and desires. But how can that be true? Is our body not already moved by 'physical' causes such as nerve impulses and muscle contractions? What difference is made by what is on our minds? It is unsettling that in contemporary analytic philosophy of mind we find widespread doubts about mental causation. For it is at the root of our existence as perceiving, thinking and acting subjects. Dependencies, Connections, and Other Relations. A Theory of Mental Causation covers, in its subsequent parts, ontology, the metaphysics of causation, and the philosophy of mind. It provides a firm theoretical basis for believing that in our all-physical world mental causation is perfectly real, and that it can be understood.