Reductionism And The Development Of Knowledge

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Reductionism and the Development of Knowledge

Author : Terrance Brown
Publisher : Psychology Press
ISBN 13 : 1135639884
Total Pages : 434 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (356 download)

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Book Synopsis Reductionism and the Development of Knowledge by : Terrance Brown

Download or read book Reductionism and the Development of Knowledge written by Terrance Brown and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2003-01-30 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Among the many conceits of modern thought is the idea that philosophy, tainted as it is by subjective evaluation, is a shaky guide for human affairs. People, it is argued, are better off if they base their conduct either on know-how with its pragmatic criterion of truth (i.e., possibility) or on science with its universal criterion of rational necessity. Since Helmholtz, there has been increasing concern in the life sciences about the role of reductionism in the construction of knowledge. Is psychophysics really possible? Are biological phenomena just the deducible results of chemical phenomena? And if life can be reduced to molecular mechanisms only, where do these miraculous molecules come from, and how do they work? On a psychological level, people wonder whether psychological phenomena result simply from genetically hardwired structures in the brain or whether, even if not genetically determined, they can be identified with the biochemical processes of that organ. In sociology, identical questions arise. If physical or chemical reduction is not practicable, should we think in terms of other forms of reduction, say, the reduction of psychological to sociological phenomena or in terms of what Piaget has called the "reduction of the lower to the higher" (e.g., teleology)? All in all, then, reductionism in both naive and sophisticated forms permeates all of human thought and may, at least in certain cases, be necessary to it. If so, what exactly are those cases? The papers collected in this volume are all derived from the 29th Annual Symposium of the Jean Piaget Society. The intent of the volume is to examine the issue of reductionism on the theoretical level in several sciences, including biology, psychology, and sociology. A complementary intent is to examine it from the point of view of the practical effects of reductionistic doctrine on daily life.

Reductionism in Art and Brain Science

Author : Eric R. Kandel
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231542089
Total Pages : 237 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (315 download)

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Book Synopsis Reductionism in Art and Brain Science by : Eric R. Kandel

Download or read book Reductionism in Art and Brain Science written by Eric R. Kandel and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-30 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are art and science separated by an unbridgeable divide? Can they find common ground? In this new book, neuroscientist Eric R. Kandel, whose remarkable scientific career and deep interest in art give him a unique perspective, demonstrates how science can inform the way we experience a work of art and seek to understand its meaning. Kandel illustrates how reductionism—the distillation of larger scientific or aesthetic concepts into smaller, more tractable components—has been used by scientists and artists alike to pursue their respective truths. He draws on his Nobel Prize-winning work revealing the neurobiological underpinnings of learning and memory in sea slugs to shed light on the complex workings of the mental processes of higher animals. In Reductionism in Art and Brain Science, Kandel shows how this radically reductionist approach, applied to the most complex puzzle of our time—the brain—has been employed by modern artists who distill their subjective world into color, form, and light. Kandel demonstrates through bottom-up sensory and top-down cognitive functions how science can explore the complexities of human perception and help us to perceive, appreciate, and understand great works of art. At the heart of the book is an elegant elucidation of the contribution of reductionism to the evolution of modern art and its role in a monumental shift in artistic perspective. Reductionism steered the transition from figurative art to the first explorations of abstract art reflected in the works of Turner, Monet, Kandinsky, Schoenberg, and Mondrian. Kandel explains how, in the postwar era, Pollock, de Kooning, Rothko, Louis, Turrell, and Flavin used a reductionist approach to arrive at their abstract expressionism and how Katz, Warhol, Close, and Sandback built upon the advances of the New York School to reimagine figurative and minimal art. Featuring captivating drawings of the brain alongside full-color reproductions of modern art masterpieces, this book draws out the common concerns of science and art and how they illuminate each other.

Beyond Reduction

Author : Steven Horst
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198043155
Total Pages : 242 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (98 download)

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Book Synopsis Beyond Reduction by : Steven Horst

Download or read book Beyond Reduction written by Steven Horst and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2007-08-30 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary philosophers of mind tend to assume that the world of nature can be reduced to basic physics. Yet there are features of the mind consciousness, intentionality, normativity that do not seem to be reducible to physics or neuroscience. This explanatory gap between mind and brain has thus been a major cause of concern in recent philosophy of mind. Reductionists hold that, despite all appearances, the mind can be reduced to the brain. Eliminativists hold that it cannot, and that this implies that there is something illegitimate about the mentalistic vocabulary. Dualists hold that the mental is irreducible, and that this implies either a substance or a property dualism. Mysterian non-reductive physicalists hold that the mind is uniquely irreducible, perhaps due to some limitation of our self-understanding. In this book, Steven Horst argues that this whole conversation is based on assumptions left over from an outdated philosophy of science. While reductionism was part of the philosophical orthodoxy fifty years ago, it has been decisively rejected by philosophers of science over the past thirty years, and for good reason. True reductions are in fact exceedingly rare in the sciences, and the conviction that they were there to be found was an artifact of armchair assumptions of 17th century Rationalists and 20th century Logical Empiricists. The explanatory gaps between mind and brain are far from unique. In fact, in the sciences it is gaps all the way down.And if reductions are rare in even the physical sciences, there is little reason to expect them in the case of psychology. Horst argues that this calls for a complete re-thinking of the contemporary problematic in philosophy of mind. Reductionism, dualism, eliminativism and non-reductive materialism are each severely compromised by post-reductionist philosophy of science, and philosophy of mind is in need of a new paradigm. Horst suggests that such a paradigm might be found in Cognitive Pluralism: the view that human cognitive architecture constrains us to understand the world through a plurality of partial, idealized, and pragmatically-constrained models, each employing a particular representational system optimized for its own problem domain. Such an architecture can explain the disunities of knowledge, and is plausible on evolutionary grounds.

Holism and Reductionism in Biology and Ecology

Author : Rick C. Looijen
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9401595607
Total Pages : 362 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (15 download)

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Book Synopsis Holism and Reductionism in Biology and Ecology by : Rick C. Looijen

Download or read book Holism and Reductionism in Biology and Ecology written by Rick C. Looijen and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Holism and reductionism are traditionally seen as incompatible views or approaches to nature. Here Looijen argues that they should rather be seen as mutually dependent and hence co-operating research programmes. He sheds some interesting new light on the emergence thesis, its relation to the reduction thesis, and on the role and status of functional explanations in biology. He discusses several examples of reduction in both biology and ecology, showing the mutual dependence of holistic and reductionist research programmes. Ecologists are offered separate chapters, clarifying some major, yet highly and controversial ecological concepts, such as `community', `habitat', and `niche'. The book is the first in-depth study of the philosophy of ecology. Readership: Specialists in the philosophy of science, especially the philosophy of biology, biologists and ecologists interested in the philosophy of their discipline. Also of interest to other scientists concerned with the holism-reductionism issue.

The Limits of Reductionism in Biology

Author : Novartis Foundation
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 250 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis The Limits of Reductionism in Biology by : Novartis Foundation

Download or read book The Limits of Reductionism in Biology written by Novartis Foundation and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 1998-07-03 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive volume examining the fundamental questions raised by reductionists' theory about levels of explanation necessary to understand biological systems. The book evaluates the enormously powerful techniques of molecular biology, and analyzes precisely how molecular information has improved our understanding of fundamental biological processes.

Psychoneural Reduction

Author : John Bickle
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262024327
Total Pages : 268 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (243 download)

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Book Synopsis Psychoneural Reduction by : John Bickle

Download or read book Psychoneural Reduction written by John Bickle and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Bickle presents a new type of reductionism, one that is stronger than one-way dependency yet sidesteps the arguments that sank classical reductionism.

Beyond Reductionism

Author : Terry Wykowski
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1351464264
Total Pages : 270 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (514 download)

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Book Synopsis Beyond Reductionism by : Terry Wykowski

Download or read book Beyond Reductionism written by Terry Wykowski and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-07-28 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beyond Reductionism: Gateways for Learning and Change takes a critical look at organizational learning and change management from a leadership perspective in late 20th century organizations. The authors argue that the dynamics that restrain the efforts of leaders transcend personal attributes and leadership styles. They are rooted in the nature of work and institutions and the histories and cultures of the organizations themselves. Often seen as the central constraint - and the core limiting factor in organizational effectiveness and learning - reductionism is defined as over-simplification and a failure to comprehend the nature of life in organizations by concentrating too fully on discrete and disconnected aspects of reality. The other constraints of hierarchy and institutional knowledge are activated and driven by reductionism. After reading Beyond Reductionism: Gateways for Learning and Change leaders at all organizational levels will understand why low levels of organizational learning persists and change efforts fail. They will also be equipped to recognize and reject overly simplistic and superficial interventions, helping them to create non-reductionist strategies for creating and sustaining change. Actual project designs, experiences, techniques and results are described in the book within an overall framework that emphasizes the roles and interconnectedness of individuals, leaders, and groups, all operating within the overlay of culture.

Sustaining Gains in Poverty Reduction and Human Development in the Middle East and North Africa

Author : Farrukh Iqbal
Publisher : World Bank Publications
ISBN 13 : 0821365282
Total Pages : 136 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (213 download)

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Book Synopsis Sustaining Gains in Poverty Reduction and Human Development in the Middle East and North Africa by : Farrukh Iqbal

Download or read book Sustaining Gains in Poverty Reduction and Human Development in the Middle East and North Africa written by Farrukh Iqbal and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2006 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reviews the experience of the MENA region with poverty and human development since the mid-1980s. It finds that poverty rates did not decline by much during this period while health and education indicators improved substantially. The stagnation of poverty rates is ascribed to the stagnation of the region's economies during this period while the improvement in human indicators is likely due to several factors including improvement in the delivery of public health and education services.

Epistemology of Testimony: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide

Author : Duncan Pritchard
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199810710
Total Pages : 24 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (998 download)

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Book Synopsis Epistemology of Testimony: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by : Duncan Pritchard

Download or read book Epistemology of Testimony: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide written by Duncan Pritchard and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-06 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This ebook is a selective guide designed to help scholars and students of social work find reliable sources of information by directing them to the best available scholarly materials in whatever form or format they appear from books, chapters, and journal articles to online archives, electronic data sets, and blogs. Written by a leading international authority on the subject, the ebook provides bibliographic information supported by direct recommendations about which sources to consult and editorial commentary to make it clear how the cited sources are interrelated related. This ebook is a static version of an article from Oxford Bibliographies Online: Philosophy, a dynamic, continuously updated, online resource designed to provide authoritative guidance through scholarship and other materials relevant to the study Philosophy. Oxford Bibliographies Online covers most subject disciplines within the social science and humanities, for more information visit www.oxfordbibligraphies.com.

The Epistemology of Testimony

Author : Jennifer Lackey
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199276005
Total Pages : 321 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (992 download)

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Book Synopsis The Epistemology of Testimony by : Jennifer Lackey

Download or read book The Epistemology of Testimony written by Jennifer Lackey and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher Description

Prevention Program Development and Evaluation

Author : Robert K. Conyne
Publisher : SAGE Publications
ISBN 13 : 1506319351
Total Pages : 233 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (63 download)

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Book Synopsis Prevention Program Development and Evaluation by : Robert K. Conyne

Download or read book Prevention Program Development and Evaluation written by Robert K. Conyne and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2009-06-12 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The use of seatbelts, the requirements for smoke detectors, and other kinds of public health interventions have been highly successful in reducing disability, injuries, and premature mortality. Prevention in mental health— identifying and treating mental illnesses before they become full blown syndromes or identifying people at risk for a condition—is just as critical to public mental health. This research-based resource gives practitioners a nuts-and-bolts guide to designing and evaluating prevention programs in mental health that are culturally relevant and aimed at reducing the number of new problems that occur. Key Features Employs a 10-step prevention program development and evaluation model that emphasizes the concepts of community, collaboration, and cultural relevance Offers a brief, practical, how-to approach that is based on rigorous research Identifies specific prevention program development and evaluation steps Highlights examples of "everyday prevention" practices as well as concrete prevention programs that have proven, effective implementation Promotes hands-on learning with practical exercises, instructive figures, and a comprehensive reference list Intended Audience Written in a straightforward and accessible style, Prevention Program Development and Evaluation can be used as a core text in undergraduate courses devoted to prevention or in graduate programs aimed at practice issues. Current practitioners or policymakers interested in designing prevention programs will find this book to be an affable guide.

Reductionism, Emergence and Levels of Reality

Author : Sergio Chibbaro
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319063618
Total Pages : 171 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (19 download)

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Book Synopsis Reductionism, Emergence and Levels of Reality by : Sergio Chibbaro

Download or read book Reductionism, Emergence and Levels of Reality written by Sergio Chibbaro and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-05-13 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientists have always attempted to explain the world in terms of a few unifying principles. In the fifth century B.C. Democritus boldly claimed that reality is simply a collection of indivisible and eternal parts or atoms. Over the centuries his doctrine has remained a landmark, and much progress in physics is due to its distinction between subjective perception and objective reality. This book discusses theory reduction in physics, which states that the whole is nothing more than the sum of its parts: the properties of things are directly determined by their constituent parts. Reductionism deals with the relation between different theories that address different levels of reality, and uses extrapolations to apply that relation in different sciences. Reality shows a complex structure of connections, and the dream of a unified interpretation of all phenomena in several simple laws continues to attract anyone with genuine philosophical and scientific interests. If the most radical reductionist point of view is correct, the relationship between disciplines is strictly inclusive: chemistry becomes physics, biology becomes chemistry, and so on. Eventually, only one science, indeed just a single theory, would survive, with all others merging in the Theory of Everything. Is the current coexistence of different sciences a mere historical venture which will end when the Theory of Everything has been established? Can there be a unified description of nature? Rather than an analysis of full reductionism, this book focuses on aspects of theory reduction in physics and stimulates reflection on related questions: is there any evidence of actual reduction? Are the examples used in the philosophy of science too simplistic? What has been endangered by the search for (the) ultimate truth? Has the dream of reductionist reason created any monsters? Is big science one such monster? What is the point of embedding science Y within science X, if predictions cannot be made on that basis?

Darwinian Reductionism

Author : Alexander Rosenberg
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226727319
Total Pages : 275 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (267 download)

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Book Synopsis Darwinian Reductionism by : Alexander Rosenberg

Download or read book Darwinian Reductionism written by Alexander Rosenberg and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2008-09-15 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953, scientists working in molecular biology embraced reductionism—the theory that all complex systems can be understood in terms of their components. Reductionism, however, has been widely resisted by both nonmolecular biologists and scientists working outside the field of biology. Many of these antireductionists, nevertheless, embrace the notion of physicalism—the idea that all biological processes are physical in nature. How, Alexander Rosenberg asks, can these self-proclaimed physicalists also be antireductionists? With clarity and wit, Darwinian Reductionism navigates this difficult and seemingly intractable dualism with convincing analysis and timely evidence. In the spirit of the few distinguished biologists who accept reductionism—E. O. Wilson, Francis Crick, Jacques Monod, James Watson, and Richard Dawkins—Rosenberg provides a philosophically sophisticated defense of reductionism and applies it to molecular developmental biology and the theory of natural selection, ultimately proving that the physicalist must also be a reductionist.

Rethinking Causality, Complexity and Evidence for the Unique Patient

Author : Rani Lill Anjum
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030412393
Total Pages : 252 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (34 download)

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Book Synopsis Rethinking Causality, Complexity and Evidence for the Unique Patient by : Rani Lill Anjum

Download or read book Rethinking Causality, Complexity and Evidence for the Unique Patient written by Rani Lill Anjum and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-06-02 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book is a unique resource for health professionals who are interested in understanding the philosophical foundations of their daily practice. It provides tools for untangling the motivations and rationality behind the way medicine and healthcare is studied, evaluated and practiced. In particular, it illustrates the impact that thinking about causation, complexity and evidence has on the clinical encounter. The book shows how medicine is grounded in philosophical assumptions that could at least be challenged. By engaging with ideas that have shaped the medical profession, clinicians are empowered to actively take part in setting the premises for their own practice and knowledge development. Written in an engaging and accessible style, with contributions from experienced clinicians, this book presents a new philosophical framework that takes causal complexity, individual variation and medical uniqueness as default expectations for health and illness.

Empowerment and Poverty Reduction

Author : Deepa Narayan-Parker
Publisher : World Bank Publications
ISBN 13 : 9780821351666
Total Pages : 412 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (516 download)

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Book Synopsis Empowerment and Poverty Reduction by : Deepa Narayan-Parker

Download or read book Empowerment and Poverty Reduction written by Deepa Narayan-Parker and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication offers a framework for the empowerment of people living in poverty throughout the world that concentrates on increasing people's freedom of choice and action to shape their own lives. Based on analysis of practical experiences, the book identifies four key elements to support empowerment: information, inclusion and participation, improved accountability and local organisational capacity. This framework is then applied to five areas of action to improve development effectiveness: provision of basic services, improved local governance, improved national governance, pro-poor market development, and access to justice and legal aid. It also offers twenty 'tools and practices' which concentrate on a wide-range of topics to support the empowerment of the poor.

Reduction and Emergence in Science and Philosophy

Author : Carl Gillett
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1316776646
Total Pages : 401 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (167 download)

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Book Synopsis Reduction and Emergence in Science and Philosophy by : Carl Gillett

Download or read book Reduction and Emergence in Science and Philosophy written by Carl Gillett and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-09-08 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grand debates over reduction and emergence are playing out across the sciences, but these debates have reached a stalemate, with both sides declaring victory on empirical grounds. In this book, Carl Gillett provides theoretical frameworks with which to understand these debates, illuminating both the novel positions of scientific reductionists and emergentists and the recent empirical advances that drive these new views. Gillett also highlights the flaws in existing philosophical frameworks and reorients the discussion to reflect the new scientific advances and issues, including the nature of 'parts' and 'wholes', the character of aggregation, and thus the continuity of nature itself. Most importantly, Gillett shows how disputes about concrete scientific cases are empirically resolvable and hence how we can break the scientific stalemate. Including a detailed glossary of key terms, this volume will be valuable for researchers and advanced students of the philosophy of science and metaphysics, and scientific researchers working in the area.

Physicalism, Or Something Near Enough

Author : Chae-gwŏn Kim
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780691113753
Total Pages : 186 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (137 download)

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Book Synopsis Physicalism, Or Something Near Enough by : Chae-gwŏn Kim

Download or read book Physicalism, Or Something Near Enough written by Chae-gwŏn Kim and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary discussions in philosophy of mind have largely been shaped by physicalism, the doctrine that all phenomena are ultimately physical. Here, Jaegwon Kim presents the most comprehensive and systematic presentation yet of his influential ideas on the mind-body problem. He seeks to determine, after half a century of debate: What kind of (or "how much") physicalism can we lay claim to? He begins by laying out mental causation and consciousness as the two principal challenges to contemporary physicalism. How can minds exercise their causal powers in a physical world? Is a physicalist account of consciousness possible? The book's starting point is the "supervenience" argument (sometimes called the "exclusion" argument), which Kim reformulates in an extended defense. This argument shows that the contemporary physicalist faces a stark choice between reductionism (the idea that mental phenomena are physically reducible) and epiphenomenalism (the view that mental phenomena are causally impotent). Along the way, Kim presents a novel argument showing that Cartesian substance dualism offers no help with mental causation. Mind-body reduction, therefore, is required to save mental causation. But are minds physically reducible? Kim argues that all but one type of mental phenomena are reducible, including intentional mental phenomena, such as beliefs and desires. The apparent exceptions are the intrinsic, felt qualities of conscious experiences ("qualia"). Kim argues, however, that certain relational properties of qualia, in particular their similarities and differences, are behaviorally manifest and hence in principle reducible, and that it is these relational properties of qualia that are central to their cognitive roles. The causal efficacy of qualia, therefore, is not entirely lost. According to Kim, then, while physicalism is not the whole truth, it is the truth near enough.