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constitutive micropsychism
Also known as: constitutive micropsychists
Facts (12)
Sources
Panpsychism - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy plato.stanford.edu Jul 18, 2017 9 facts
claimThe 'uber-mind' argument posits that if two distinct points of view were combined into a single 'uber-mind,' that mind would have to possess both sets of experiences to the exclusion of all others, which is contradictory; this argument is used to suggest that constitutive micropsychism is incoherent.
perspectiveLuke Roelofs develops a form of constitutive micropsychism arguing that humans cannot recognize or imagine the basic micro-conscious ingredients of consciousness because they are never experienced in isolation from complex combinations.
claimIn contemporary philosophy, the "synecological" view of panpsychism is known as "(constitutive) cosmopsychism," while the "atomistic" view is known as "(constitutive) micropsychism."
claimRussellian monists believe that the conscious mind is the intrinsic nature of the brain, while constitutive micropsychists believe human experience is grounded in the properties of micro-level entities.
claimIn its stronger form, the subject-summing problem is an argument asserting that subject-summing is incoherent or impossible, which would imply that panpsychism, or specifically constitutive micropsychism, is false.
claimConstitutive micropsychism posits that micro-level entities possess basic forms of conscious experience, which combine in brains to constitute human and animal consciousness.
claimConstitutive micropsychism is a form of constitutive panpsychism asserting that all facts are grounded in or constituted by consciousness-involving facts at the micro-level, implying that the smallest parts of a brain possess basic forms of consciousness.
claimIf the existence of 'micro-experiential zombies' is possible, then constitutive micropsychism is false, because the facts about micro-subjects would not necessitate the existence of macro-level conscious subjects.
claimConstitutive micropsychism faces the 'combination problem,' which questions how the consciousness of a brain as a whole is made up from the consciousness of its individual parts.
Panpsychism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Fall 2025 Edition) plato.stanford.edu May 23, 2001 3 facts
claimLuke Roelofs (2019) has developed a detailed form of constitutive micropsychism.
claimConstitutive micropsychism is the philosophical view that facts about micro-subjects wholly account for the existence of macro-level conscious subjects.
claimPhilip Goff (2009, 2017) argues that constitutive micropsychism is incoherent because arguments against subject-summing apply to micro-level subjects.