The DOI matches its Crossref record; 6 of the 6 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Interactionism, Energy Conservation, and the Violation of Physical Laws
Abstract
The law of energy conservation is either analytic and not threatened by psychophysical interactionism or contingent upon the causal closure of the physical world which interactionism denies. In either case, interactionism implies departures from the laws of physics, despite attempts to demonstrate the contrary by exploiting the loophole of quantum mechanical indetenninism. These departures are best fonnulated in tenns of modifications, by the conscious self, of the electromagnetic interactions betweenparticles. The electromag-netic vector potential is essentially a summary representation of effects on the motion of particles; these effects can be caused by mental eventsjust as well as by physical events. The interactionist hypothesis implies that the modifications caused by the self cannot be described by mathematical laws. Therefore. the interactions between particles that are modified by a self cannot take place in strict accordance with any physical law. Interactionism, finally, is not irrevocably committed to dualism: it can be incorporated into a panpsychism which pennits the self and the particles constituting the body to be thought of as different aspects of the same causal agent. Key words: conservation laws, energy, free will, indeterminism, indistinguishable particles, mental causation, momentum, panpsycbism, psychophysical interactionism, vector potential
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“Mohrhoff and Collins (independently) follow a very common interpretation in the physics and philosophy of physics communities (Misner et al. 1973, p. 467) that denies the physical meaning of the formal mathematics of “pseudotensor” conservation laws in General Relativity.”
From General Relativity, Mental Causation, and Energy Conservation (2022) · cites this paper as Mohrhoff 1997
Citations
Cites
Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals
Miguel Blasco, L. D. (1966) · Students Quarterly Journal · doi:10.1049/sqj.1966.0063 · Cited by 9,884
Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics
von Neumann, J. (2018) · Princeton University Press eBooks · doi:10.1515/9781400889921 · Cited by 5,072
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Lycan, W. G., & Dennett, D. C. (1993) · The Philosophical Review · doi:10.2307/2185913 · Cited by 2,673
Eddington, A. S. (1958) · University of Michigan Press eBooks · doi:10.3998/mpub.12945584 · Cited by 798
How the SELF Controls Its BRAIN
Eccles, J. C. (1994) · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-49224-2 · Cited by 370
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Mohrhoff, U. (2011) · WORLD SCIENTIFIC eBooks · doi:10.1142/9789814293389 · Cited by 1
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Pitts, J. B. (2022) · Jerusalem studies in philosophy and history of science · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-96775-8_10 · Cited by 1
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Metadata
- Authors
- Mohrhoff, U.
- Corresponding author
- Mohrhoff, Ulrich
- ORCID
- Mohrhoff, Ulrich
- Venue
- Physics Essays
- Publisher
- Physics Essays Publication
- Published
- 1997-12
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 651-665
- ISSN
- 0836-1398 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1967644071
- Cited by
- 13
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 0.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Physics Essays (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Free Will and Agency
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy of Biology and Scientific Explanation
- Keywords
- energy conservation (physics), quantum indeterminism, free will, mental causation, electromagnetic vector potential, panpsychism, dualism, momentum conservation, identical particles
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