Mechanistic decomposition and reduction in complex, context-sensitive systems

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Daniel C. Burnston¹ 

[1] Philosophy Department, Tulane University, Tulane Brain Institute

关键词: Mechanism;    emergence;    context-sensitivity;    Network organization;    complex systems;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2022.992347

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Standard arguments in philosophy of science infer from the complexity of biological and neural systems to the presence of emergence and failure of mechanistic/reductionist explanation for those systems. I argue against this kind of argument, specifically focusing on the notion of context-sensitivity. Context-sensitivity is standardly taken to be incompatible with reductionistic explanation, because it shows that larger-scale factors influence the functioning of lower-level parts. I argue that this argument can be overcome if there are mechanisms underlying those context-specific reorganizations. I argue that such mechanisms are frequently discovered in neuroscience.

【 授权许可】

CC BY