Epiphenomenalism

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Epiphenomenalism is the view in philosophy of mind according to which physical events have mental effects, but mental events have no physical effects. In other words, the causal interaction goes only one way, from physical to mental. It is a type of dualism.

Put simply, if Pierre eats a candy bar and experiences pleasure, that pleasure is caused by his eating the candy bar. On the other hand, if he goes to get another candy bar, it is not his experience of pleasure that is causing him to do this. Mental events are just epiphenomena - side-effects, or by-products - of physical processes in the nervous system.

Links: http://www.consciousentities.com/deadends.htm#epiphenomenalism

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