Phenomenological Reviews

Journal | Volume | Article

235949

Reductionism and the micro–macro mirroring thesis

Eric Hiddleston

pp. 209-226

Abstract

This paper concerns reductionist views about psychology and the special sciences more generally. I identify a metaphysical assumption in reductionist views which I dub the ‘Micro–Macro Mirroring Thesis’. The Mirroring Thesis says that the relation between the entities of any legitimate higher-level science and their lower-level realizers is similar to that between the entities of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. I argue that reductionism implies the Thesis, and that the Thesis is not a priori. It is more difficult to tell whether the Thesis is true, and I indicate some relevant considerations.

Publication details

Published in:

Moffett Marc, Ray Greg (2011) The 37th annual meeting of the society for exact philosophy. Synthese 181 (2).

Pages: 209-226

DOI: 10.1007/s11229-010-9798-z

Full citation:

Hiddleston Eric (2011) „Reductionism and the micro–macro mirroring thesis“. Synthese 181 (2), 209–226.