Editing Mind–body dualism (section)

===Special sciences argument===
[[Howard Robinson]] argues that, if predicate dualism is correct, then there are "special sciences" that are irreducible to physics. These allegedly irreducible subjects, which contain irreducible predicates, differ from hard sciences in that they are interest-relative. Here, interest-relative fields depend on the existence of minds that can have interested perspectives.<ref name="Rob" /> Psychology is one such science; it completely depends on and presupposes the existence of the mind.

Physics is the general analysis of [[nature]], conducted to understand how the [[universe]] behaves. On the other hand, the study of [[meteorology|meteorological]] weather patterns or [[Behavioral science|human behavior]] is only of interest to humans themselves. The point is that having a perspective on the world is a psychological state. Therefore, the special sciences presuppose the existence of minds which can have these states. If one is to avoid ontological dualism, then the mind that ''has'' a perspective must be part of the physical reality to which it ''applies'' its perspective. If this is the case, then to perceive the physical world as psychological, the mind must have a perspective on the physical. This, in turn, presupposes the existence of mind.<ref name="Rob" />

However, [[cognitive science]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Pylyshyn|first=Zenon W.|title=Computation and Cognition|year=1986|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0262660587|page=259}}</ref> and psychology<ref>{{cite journal|last=Schwarz|first=Jeffrey M.|author2=Stapp, Henry P.|author3=Beauregard, Mario|date=June 2005|title=Quantum Physics in Neuroscience and Psychology: A Neurophysical Model of Mind-Brain Interaction|journal=Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences|volume=360|issue=1458|pages=1309–1327|doi=10.1098/rstb.2004.1598|jstor=30041344|pmc=1569494|pmid=16147524}}<!--|access-date=20 November 2012--></ref> do not require the mind to be irreducible, and operate on the assumption that it has physical basis. In fact, it is common in science to presuppose a complex system;<ref name=chemistry>{{cite book|last=Brown|title=Chemistry|year=2003|publisher=Prentice Hall|location=NJ|isbn=978-0-13-066997-1|pages=2–3}}</ref> while fields such as [[chemistry]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Various|date=December 1994|title=Accurate First Principles Calculation of Molecular Charge Distributions and Solvation Energies from Ab Initio Quantum Mechanics and Continuum Dielectric Theory|journal=J. Am. Chem. Soc.|volume=116|issue=26|pages=11875–11882|doi=10.1021/ja00105a030|s2cid=10518482}}<!--|access-date=20 November 2012--></ref> [[biology]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ma|first=Buyong|author2=Nussinov, Ruth|title=From computational quantum chemistry to computational biology: experiments and computations are (full) partners|journal=Phys. Biol.|date=November 2004|volume=1|issue=4|pages=23–6|doi=10.1088/1478-3967/1/4/P01 |pmid=16204832|bibcode=2004PhBio...1P..23M|s2cid=24333007 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1235734}}<!--|access-date=20 November 2012--></ref> or geology<ref>{{cite journal|last=Various|date=April 2010|title=Quantum Monte Carlo computations of phase stability, equations of state, and elasticity of high-pressure silica|journal=PNAS|volume=107|issue=21|pages=9519–9524|arxiv=1001.2066|bibcode=2010PNAS..107.9519D|doi=10.1073/pnas.0912130107|pmc=2906913|pmid=20457932|doi-access=free}}<!--|access-date=20 November 2012--></ref> could be verbosely expressed in terms of [[quantum field theory]], it is convenient to use levels of abstraction like [[molecules]], [[Cell (biology)|cells]], or the [[Mantle (geology)|mantle]]. It is often difficult to decompose these levels without heavy analysis<ref>{{cite journal|last=Pyykko|first=Pekka|date=21 July 2012|title=The Physics behind Chemistry and the Periodic Table|journal=Chem. Rev.|volume=112|issue=1|pages=371–384|doi=10.1021/cr200042e|pmid=21774555|s2cid=46487006}}<!--|access-date=10 November 2012--></ref> and computation.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Pyykko|first=Pekka|title=A suggested periodic table up to Z ≤ 172, based on Dirac–Fock calculations on atoms and ions|journal=Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics|date=22 Oct 2010|volume=13|issue=1|pages=161–168|doi=10.1039/C0CP01575J|pmid=20967377|bibcode=2011PCCP...13..161P|s2cid=31590563}}</ref> Sober has also advanced philosophical arguments against the notion of irreducibility.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sober|first=Elliott|date=December 1999|title=The Multiple Realizability Argument against Reductionism|journal=Philosophy of Science|volume=66|issue=4|pages=542–564|doi=10.1086/392754|jstor=188749|s2cid=54883322}}<!--|access-date=20 November 2012--></ref>