Metodo

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Journal | Volume | Article

174937

Essere un soggetto è un fenomeno naturale?

Alfredo Paternoster

pp. 97-117

Abstract

As I define it, metaphysical naturalism (in the philosophy of mind) is the thesis according to which mental facts supervene in strong sense on neurophysiological states, i.e., the former can be deduced from the latter. In this paper I discuss this thesis by taking into consideration two different kinds of mental states: I shall argue that, while metaphysical naturalism is false for standard propositional attitudes (beliefs and desires), it can be defended in the case of low-level phenomenal states, or raw feelings. As a consequence, since the instantiation of high-order mental states requires those neurophysiological mechanisms that constitute raw feelings, the notion of self has a biological basis, and to this extent we can regard subjectivity as a natural phenomenon.

Publication details

Published in:

(2010) E naturale essere naturalisti?. Rivista di estetica 44.

Pages: 97-117

DOI: 10.4000/estetica.1693

Full citation:

Paternoster Alfredo (2010) „Essere un soggetto è un fenomeno naturale?“. Rivista di estetica 44, 97–117.