Cited by 206Philosophy and Theoretical ScienceEpistemology, Ethics, and MetaphysicsPhilosophy of Biology and Scientific Explanation

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 35 of the 42 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 11 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

The Real Combination Problem: Panpsychism, Micro-Subjects, and Emergence

Open access
Coleman, Sam·2014·Erkenntnis

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

The paper argues that constitutive panpsychism faces a dilemma: if physical ultimates are subjects, then macro-subjects cannot be non-emergently constituted from them, so panpsychism collapses into emergence. It recommends abandoning micro-subjects while retaining fundamental qualia, resulting in a neutral monist position with a relational account of consciousness.

Key findings

  • The combination problem has two readings: one concerns combining qualitative elements, the other concerns combining subjects. The paper argues the first is not seriously problematic, while the second is insuperable.
  • Subjects or points of view cannot combine because they are discrete and binary: a unified macro-subject would either eliminate predecessor perspectives or fail to include them as perspectives, and fusion would suppress the very subjectivity it is meant to explain.
  • Because micro-subjects cannot structurally compose a macro-subject, constitutive panpsychism violates its own anti-emergence commitment; if emergence is accepted here, physicalist emergence is said to be more economical.
  • The paper recommends neutral monism: qualia are fundamental but need not be experienced, while subjective awareness is relational and reducible, sketched via a modified higher-order thought model.

Methods

  • Conceptual and philosophical analysis, not empirical research; no data or sample are used.
  • The argument compares panpsychism with weak and strong emergentism, examines James’s formulation of the combination problem and responses by Seager and Goff, and uses thought experiments such as water molecule formation, gold fusion, and Red/Blue/Ub.
  • Main analysis proceeds by distinguishing qualitative combination from subject combination, defending a metaphysical impossibility claim about combining points of view, and outlining a neutral monist alternative.

Limitations

  • Stated in the paper: the neutral monist proposal is a roadmap, with details left for future research; the relational model of subjectivity is not fully developed; the higher-order thought suggestion is tentative; and the argument assumes robust realism about human subjects as a mere assumption.
  • Evident from the text: the conclusion depends on stipulated definitions of combination, subject, and point of view, and the proposed neutral monist mechanism remains programmatic rather than fully worked out.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1007/s10670-013-9431-x

Cites

35 of 35 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

101 Own interpretation · 11 No basis given · 8 Not checked yet · 1 Sources not found · 1 Own result

Verify all 10 references — free account

Show all 66 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 34
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 28
56 of 56
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    There really are human subjects, robustly real, and they are not merely splinters of a greater, universe-sized subject.

    “The argument assumes a robust realism about human subjects-that there really are such subjects, and that they are not merely (in some sense) splinters of a greater, universe--sized subject.”
1 of 1

Citations

Cites

Show all 42 references

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Nagel, T. (1979). Panpsychism. In his Mortal questions Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  2. Strawson, G. (2008). What is the relation between an experience, the subject of the experience, and the content of the experience? In his Real materialism and other essays. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Cited by

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Metadata

Authors
Coleman, S.
Affiliations
University of Hertfordshire (GB)
Corresponding author
Coleman, Sam
Venue
Erkenntnis
Published
2013-01-20
Volume
79
Issue
1
Pages
19-44
ISSN
  • 0165-0106 (ISSN-L)
  • 1572-8420
OpenAlex
W2083819945
Cited by
206
References
42
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 1
FWCI
6.31
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Erkenntnis (publishedVersion)
  • University of Hertfordshire Research Archive (University of Hertfordshire) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy of Biology and Scientific Explanation
Keywords
panpsychism, emergence, consciousness, reductive physicalism, phenomenal properties, combination problem, neutral monism

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