Discharge Exclusion Problem From The Token-identity Approach

Mental causation is one of the most important issues in Mental Philosophy. To save mental causation, there are two levels that we must involve in: not only to show that the causal causation between mind and mind is valid, but also mind and body. The study of contemporary mind philosophy has paid more attention to how the causation works between mind and body. Because mind and body(or mental property and physical property) is different in quality. It is difficult for us to give some satisfied explanations of causal causation between them. Moreover, various explanations of mental causation are facing more and more challenges. Exclusion problem is one of them. Standing on the non-physicalism, it denies that the mental is able to have any casual causation. Instead, the physical has the causation. Confronting the doubt, it seems that the mental has no casual causation.In order to save mental causation, mental philosopher has attempted to do various of work from different approaches. In this paper, I will introduce some solutions to discharge exclusion problem, for example, Counterfactual Dependence, Autonomy Solutions, Inheritance Solutions, and so on. This paper focuses on the solution of Identity Theory, especially the Token-Identity Theory. I will show that, in contrary to other solutions, Token-Identity Theory can discharge exclusion problem to insurance the mental causation satisfactorily. So, on the base of showing the general argument of Token-Identity Theory, I will observe several solutions of it in different scholars’ papers. Although there are some tiny distinctions in their papers, it won’t cover the truth that they avoid the exclusion problem to save the mental causation, in terms of Token-Identity Theory. In the fifth chapter, in order to show its priority, I will discuss some relationships between Token-Identity Theory and other solutions. Of course, this priority is not completeness. But I believe, all in all, Token-Identity Theory is satisfactory to save the mental causation.