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Personal Identity

Explanation

(Text as at 06/07/2023 00:43:12)

Plug Note¹

• Thesis Text:
  1. In the Introduction² to this Thesis I said that the entire work will be an exercise in inference to the best explanation, so I need to give an account of what an explanation is. The Thesis needs to account for our intuitions³ in response to the various TEs⁴ and other situations and questions that arise, or else explain them away as confused. If there is a universal response, that is – though this isn’t always the case (consider the ‘transplant intuition⁵’ that ‘you go with your brain’, denied by card-carrying Animalists, though I suspect they feel the power of the intuition even so).
  2. This is the underlying reason for the methodology I’ve adopted – to try to tease out all the implications of a theory of Personal Identity – because ‘fixing’ a problem in one area may have unintended consequences in other areas. The entire implied ‘world view’ has to hang together as best as possible.
  3. I have certain prejudices as to what an explanation is – a bias towards modern scientific as against Aristotelian forms of explanation, whereby an explanation has to fill in the details of mechanism, hopefully with quantification, rather than be vaguely gesturing.
  4. I need to define and defend this position but, as it’s methodological and somewhat peripheral, without causing too much of a diversion from my main concerns. I can’t get into a full-blown study of the philosophy of science.

References

• Relevant Works cited above: No items to list.
• For a Page of Links⁶ to this Note, Click here.
• Works on this topic that I’ve actually read⁷, include the following:-
  • Aeon:
    1. "Colombo (Matteo) - Why children ask ‘Why?’ and what makes a good explanation", 2017, External Link
  • General:
    1. "Harman (Gilbert) - The Inference to the Best Explanation", 1965, Internal PDF Link
    2. "Hempel (Carl) - Theories and Theoretical Explanation", 1966
    3. "Hornsby (Jennifer) - Mind, Causation and Explanation - Introduction: Personal and Subpersonal Levels", 1997, No Abstract
• A further reading list might start with:-
  • General:
    1. "Carruthers (Peter) - Knowledge By Best Explanation", 1995, No Abstract
    2. "Earman (John), Ed. - Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations", 1993, Book, Read = 4%
    3. "Haslanger (Sally) - Persistence, Change, and Explanation", 1989, Internal PDF Link
    4. "Kment (Boris) - Counterfactuals and Explanation", 2006, Internal PDF Link
    5. "Lipton (Peter) - Inference to the Best Explanation", 2004, Book
    6. "Nozick (Robert) - Philosophical Explanations", 1981, Book, Read = 2%
    7. "Ruben (David-Hillel) - Explaining Explanation", 1992, Book, Read = 2%
    8. "Ruben (David-Hillel) - Explanation", Book

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• For a list of Works that have been considered, but have missed the cut for inclusion in this Section of my Thesis, see the following:-
  1. Read: No items to list.
  2. Further Reading: No items to list.
• This is mostly a place-holder⁸.

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Table of the Previous 7 Versions of this Note:

Date	Length	Title
20/09/2022 11:24:00	2682	Explanation
02/05/2022 23:44:10	2301	Explanation
11/02/2021 11:29:46	1345	Explanation
23/09/2020 10:39:22	1141	Explanation
12/02/2018 13:01:55	2403	Explanation
18/12/2010 19:58:05	533	Explanation
26/11/2007 23:25:26	521	Explanation

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Note last updated	Reading List for this Topic	Parent Topic
06/07/2023 00:43:12	Explanation	General Surveys

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Summary of Notes Referenced by This Note

Awaiting Attention (Personal Identity)	Brain Transplants	Intuition	Note Links Explanation	Plug Note Apologia
Thesis - Preface	Thought Experiments	Works Read - Explanation

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.

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Summary of Notes Citing This Note

First-Person Perspective	Olson - What Are We? The Question	PID Note, Book & Paper Usage, 2, 3, 4, 5	Thesis - Chapter 04 (Basic Metaphysical Issues), 2, 3, 4, 5	Thesis - Chapter 07 (The Constitution View and Arguments for It)
Website Generator Documentation - Functors, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.

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Authors, Books & Papers Citing this Note

Author	Title	Medium	Extra Links	Read?
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? The Question	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 04 (Basic Metaphysical Issues)	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 07 (The Constitution View and Arguments for It)	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - First-Person Perspective	Paper		Yes

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References & Reading List

Author	Title	Medium	Source	Read?
Achinstein (Peter)	Explanation v. Prediction: Which Carries More Weight?	Paper - By Subtopic	Curd & Cover - Philosophy of Science - The Central Issues	No
Ayer (A.J.)	Facts and Explanations	Paper - By Subtopic	Ayer - The Central Questions of Philosophy, 1973	No
Ayer (A.J.)	The Central Questions of Philosophy	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Ayer (A.J.) - The Central Questions of Philosophy	No
Baker (Alan)	Are there Genuine Mathematical Explanations of Physical Phenomena?	Paper - By Subtopic	Mind, 114, Number 454, April 2005, pp. 223-238(16)	No
Baker (Peter)	An Explanation of How Brains Think	Book - By Subtopic	Baker (Peter) - An Explanation of How Brains Think	No
Barrow (John)	Theories of Everything - The Quest for Ultimate Explanation	Book - By Subtopic	Barrow (John) - Theories of Everything - The Quest for Ultimate Explanation	No
Batens (Diderik)	Do We Need a Hierarchical Model of Science?	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman (John), Ed. - Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations	No
Boden (Margaret), Ed.	The Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Boden (Margaret), Ed. - The Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence	No
Boyd (Richard)	Constructivism, Realism, and Philosophical Method	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman (John), Ed. - Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations	No
Brook (Andrew) & Ross (Don)	Daniel Dennett	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Brook (Andrew) & Ross (Don) - Daniel Dennett	No
Carnap (Rudolf)	The Value of Laws: Explanation and Prediction	Paper - By Subtopic	Curd & Cover - Philosophy of Science - The Central Issues	No
Carruthers (Peter)	Consciousness: Explaining the Phenomena	Paper - By Subtopic	Walsh - Naturalism, Evolution and the Mind	No
Carruthers (Peter)	Human Knowledge and Human Nature: A new introduction to an ancient debate	Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	No
Carruthers (Peter)	Knowledge By Best Explanation	Paper - Cited	Carruthers - Human Knowledge and Human Nature	No
Cartwright (Nancy)	Aristotelian Natures and the Modern Experimental Method	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman (John), Ed. - Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations	No
Chalmers (David)	Can Consciousness be Reductively Explained?	Paper - By Subtopic	Chalmers - The Conscious Mind, 1996, Chapter 3	No
Chalmers (David)	Supervenience and Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Chalmers - The Conscious Mind, 1996, Chapter 2	No
Chalmers (David)	The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Chalmers (David) - The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory	0%
Chomsky (Noam)	Language and Interpretation: Philosophical Reflections and Empirical Inquiry	Paper - By Subtopic	Chomsky - New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind, Chapter 3	No
Chomsky (Noam)	New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Chomsky (Noam) - New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind	7%
Churchland (Paul) & Churchland (Patricia)	On the Nature of Explanation: William Lycan	Paper - By Subtopic	McCauley - The Churchlands and Their Critics	No
Clark (Andy)	Connectionism, Competence, and Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Boden - The Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence - Oxford Readings	No
Colombo (Matteo)	Why children ask ‘Why?’ and what makes a good explanation	Paper - Cited	Aeon, 01 February 2017	Yes
Curd (Martin) & Cover (J.A.)	Philosophy of Science - The Central Issues	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Curd (Martin) & Cover (J.A.) - Philosophy of Science - The Central Issues	0%
Davis (Philip) & Hersh (Reuben)	Descartes' Dream - the World According to Mathematics	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Davis (Philip) & Hersh (Reuben) - Descartes' Dream - the World According to Mathematics	1%
Davis (Philip) & Hersh (Reuben)	Descartes' Dream - the World According to Mathematics	Paper - By Subtopic	Davis & Hersh - Descartes' Dream - the World According to Mathematics	2%
Earman (John)	Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations: Introduction	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman (John), Ed. - Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations	Yes
Earman (John), Ed.	Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations	Book - Cited	Earman (John), Ed. - Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations	4%
Field (Hartry)	Physicalism	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman (John), Ed. - Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations	No
Fodor (Jerry)	Representations - Philosophical Essays on the Foundations of Cognitive Science	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Fodor (Jerry) - Representations - Philosophical Essays on the Foundations of Cognitive Science	No
Fodor (Jerry)	The Appeal to Tacit Knowledge in Psychological Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Fodor - Representations - Philosophical Essays on the Foundations of Cognitive Science	No
Friedman (Michael)	Philosophy and the Exact Sciences: Logical Positivism as a Case Study	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman (John), Ed. - Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations	No
Ginet (Carl)	Reasons Explanation of Action: An Incompatibilist Account	Paper - By Subtopic	Mele - The Philosophy of Action - Oxford Readings	No
Glymour (Clark) & Kelly (Kevin)	Thoroughly Modern Meno	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman (John), Ed. - Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations	No
Grandy (Richard)	Theories of Theories: A View from Cognitive Science	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman (John), Ed. - Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations	No
Greeno (James)	Explanation and Information	Paper - By Subtopic	Salmon (Wesley), Jeffrey & Greeno - Statistical Explanation and Statistical Relevance	No
Harman (Gilbert)	The Inference to the Best Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Philosophical Review 74.1 (Jan 1965), pp. 88-95	Yes
Haslanger (Sally)	Persistence, Change, and Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Haslanger (Sally) & Kurtz (Roxanne) - Persistence : Contemporary Readings	No
Haslanger (Sally) & Kurtz (Roxanne), Eds.	Persistence : Contemporary Readings	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Haslanger (Sally) & Kurtz (Roxanne), Eds. - Persistence : Contemporary Readings	30%
Hempel (Carl)	Aspects of Scientific Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Hempel - Aspects of Scientific Explanation and Other Essays in the Philosophy of Science	No
Hempel (Carl)	Aspects of Scientific Explanation and Other Essays in the Philosophy of Science	Book - By Subtopic	Hempel (Carl) - Aspects of Scientific Explanation and Other Essays in the Philosophy of Science	4%
Hempel (Carl)	Inductive-Statistical Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Curd & Cover - Philosophy of Science - The Central Issues	No
Hempel (Carl)	Laws and Their Role in Scientific Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Hempel - Philosophy of Natural Science, 1966, Chapter 5	Yes
Hempel (Carl)	Philosophy of Natural Science	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Hempel (Carl) - Philosophy of Natural Science	Yes
Hempel (Carl)	Studies in the Logic of Explanation (inc. Postscript, 1964)	Paper - By Subtopic	Hempel - Aspects of Scientific Explanation and Other Essays in the Philosophy of Science	No
Hempel (Carl)	Theories and Theoretical Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Hempel - Philosophy of Natural Science, 1966, Chapter 6	Yes
Hempel (Carl)	Two Basic Types of Scientific Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Curd & Cover - Philosophy of Science - The Central Issues	No
Hintikka (Jaakko)	The Concept of Induction in the Light of the Interrogative Approach to Inquiry	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman (John), Ed. - Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations	No
Horgan (Terence) & Tienson (John)	Connectionism and the Philosophy of Psychology	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Horgan (Terence) & Tienson (John) - Connectionism and the Philosophy of Psychology	15%
Horgan (Terence) & Tienson (John)	Soft Laws and Psychological Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Horgan & Tienson - Connectionism and the Philosophy of Psychology, 1996, Chapter 8	No
Hornsby (Jennifer)	Agency and Causal Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Mele - The Philosophy of Action - Oxford Readings	No
Hornsby (Jennifer)	Mind, Causation and Explanation - Introduction: Personal and Subpersonal Levels	Paper - By Subtopic	Hornsby - Simple Mindedness	Yes
Hornsby (Jennifer)	Simple Mindedness: In Defense of Naïve Naturalism in the Philosophy of Mind	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Hornsby (Jennifer) - Simple Mindedness: In Defense of Naïve Naturalism in the Philosophy of Mind	Yes
Jeffrey (Richard)	Statistical Explanation vs. Statistical Inference	Paper - By Subtopic	Salmon (Wesley), Jeffrey & Greeno - Statistical Explanation and Statistical Relevance	No
Kim (Jaegwon)	Mechanism, Purpose, and Explanatory Exclusion	Paper - By Subtopic	Kim - Supervenience and Mind	No
Kim (Jaegwon)	Supervenience and Mind: Selected Philosophical Essays	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Kim (Jaegwon) - Supervenience and Mind: Selected Philosophical Essays	6%
Kment (Boris)	Counterfactuals and Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Mind, 115, Number 458, April 2006, pp. 261-310(50)	No
LePoidevin (Robin)	Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	LePoidevin (Robin) - Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion	11%
LePoidevin (Robin)	Could the Universe Have an Explanation?	Paper - By Subtopic	LePoidevin - Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, 1996, Chapter 3	17%
Levine (Joseph)	Purple Haze: The Puzzle of Consciousness	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Levine (Joseph) - Purple Haze: The Puzzle of Consciousness	12%
Levine (Joseph)	The Explanatory Gap: 'Actin' Funny, but I Don't Know Why'	Paper - By Subtopic	Levine - Purple Haze: The Puzzle of Consciousness, 2001, Chapter 3	7%
Lewis (David)	Causal Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Lewis - Philosophical Papers Volume II, Part 6: Causation, Chapter 22	No
Lewis (David)	Philosophical Papers Volume II	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Lewis (David) - Philosophical Papers Volume II	15%
Lipton (Peter)	Inference to the Best Explanation	Book - By Subtopic	Lipton (Peter) - Inference to the Best Explanation	No
Lipton (Peter)	Inference to the Best Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Lipton - Inference to the Best Explanation	No
Lipton (Peter)	Theory, Evidence & Explanation	Book - By Subtopic	Lipton (Peter) - Theory, Evidence & Explanation	No
Lipton (Peter)	Theory, Evidence & Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Lipton (Peter) - Theory, Evidence & Explanation	No
Lycan (William)	Paul Churchland's PDP Approach to Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	McCauley - The Churchlands and Their Critics	No
MacIntyre (Alasdair)	After Virtue	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	MacIntyre (Alasdair) - After Virtue	5%
MacIntyre (Alasdair)	'Fact', Explanation and Expertise	Paper - By Subtopic	MacIntyre - After Virtue, 1981, Chapter 7	No
Martin (Michael G.F.), Ed.	Mind - 114/454 (April 2005)	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Martin (Michael G.F.), Ed. - Mind - 114/454 (April 2005)	No
Massey (Barbara D.) & Massey (Gerald J.)	Genetic Inference: A Reconsideration of David Hume's Empiricism	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman (John), Ed. - Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations	No
Matthews (Robert)	Can Connectionists Explain Systematicity?	Paper - By Subtopic	Mind and Language, Volume 12, Issue 2, June 1997, pp. 154–177	No
McCauley (Robert), Ed.	The Churchlands and Their Critics	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	McCauley (Robert), Ed. - The Churchlands and Their Critics	No
Mele (Alfred), Ed.	The Philosophy of Action: Oxford Readings in Philosophy	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Mele (Alfred), Ed. - The Philosophy of Action: Oxford Readings in Philosophy	No
Milligan (David)	Reasoning and the Explanation of Actions	Book - By Subtopic	Milligan (David) - Reasoning and the Explanation of Actions	No
Nagel (Ernest)	Issues in the Logic of Reductive Explanations	Paper - By Subtopic	Nagel (Ernest) - Teleology Revisited	No
Nagel (Ernest)	Teleology Revisited	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Nagel (Ernest) - Teleology Revisited	1%
Nagel (Ernest)	Teleology Revisited: B. Functional Explanations in Biology	Paper - By Subtopic	Nagel (Ernest) - Teleology Revisited	No
Nozick (Robert)	Philosophical Explanations	Book - By Subtopic	Nozick (Robert) - Philosophical Explanations	2%
Nozick (Robert)	Philosophical Explanations: Introduction	Paper - By Subtopic	Nozick - Philosophical Explanations	71%
Olson (Eric)	What are We? A Study of Personal Ontology	Book - Referencing (via Paper Referencing)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? The Question	Paper - Referencing	What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology, Chapter 1 (November 2007: Oxford University Press.)	Yes
Perry (John) & Israel (David)	Fodor and Psychological Explanations	Paper - By Subtopic	John Perry, The Problem of the Essential Indexical and Other Essays. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.]	No
Pietroski (Paul)	Causing Actions	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Pietroski (Paul) - Causing Actions	1%
Pietroski (Paul)	From Explanation to Causation	Paper - By Subtopic	Pietroski - Causing Actions, 2000, Chapter 3	No
Putnam (Hilary)	Why Functionalism Didn't Work	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman (John), Ed. - Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations	No
Rosenthal (David)	Psychological Explanation: Introduction	Paper - By Subtopic	Rosenthal - The Nature of Mind, 1991	No
Rosenthal (David), Ed.	The Nature of Mind	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Rosenthal (David), Ed. - The Nature of Mind	10%
Ross (Don)	Dennettian Behavioral Explanations and the Roles of the Social Sciences	Paper - By Subtopic	Brook & Ross - Daniel Dennett (Contemporary Philosophy in Focus Series), 2002	No
Ruben (David-Hillel)	Explaining Explanation	Book - By Subtopic	Ruben (David-Hillel) - Explaining Explanation	2%
Ruben (David-Hillel)	Explaining Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Ruben - Explaining Explanation	5%
Ruben (David-Hillel)	Explanation	Book - By Subtopic	Ruben (David-Hillel) - Explanation	No
Ruben (David-Hillel)	Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Ruben - Explanation	No
Salmon (Wesley)	Causal and Theoretical Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Salmon - Causality and Explanation	No
Salmon (Wesley)	Causality and Explanation	Book - By Subtopic	Salmon (Wesley) - Causality and Explanation	No
Salmon (Wesley)	Causality and Explanation: Introduction	Paper - By Subtopic	Salmon - Causality and Explanation	No
Salmon (Wesley)	Scientific Explanation: Causation and Unification	Paper - By Subtopic	Salmon - Causality and Explanation	No
Salmon (Wesley)	Scientific Explanation: How We Got From There To Here	Paper - By Subtopic	Salmon - Causality and Explanation	No
Salmon (Wesley)	Scientific Explanation: Three Basic Conceptions	Paper - By Subtopic	Salmon - Causality and Explanation	No
Salmon (Wesley)	Statistical Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Salmon (Wesley), Jeffrey & Greeno - Statistical Explanation and Statistical Relevance	No
Salmon (Wesley)	Statistical Explanation and Statistical Relevance: Postscript	Paper - By Subtopic	Salmon (Wesley), Jeffrey & Greeno - Statistical Explanation and Statistical Relevance	No
Salmon (Wesley)	Statistical Explanation and Statistical Relevance: Preface & Introduction	Paper - By Subtopic	Salmon (Wesley), Jeffrey & Greeno - Statistical Explanation and Statistical Relevance	No
Salmon (Wesley)	Why Ask, 'Why?'?: An Inquiry Concerning Scientific Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Salmon - Causality and Explanation	No
Salmon (Wesley) & Salmon (Merrilee)	Alternative Models of Scientific Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Salmon - Causality and Explanation	No
Salmon (Wesley), Jeffrey (Richard) & Greeno (James)	Statistical Explanation and Statistical Relevance	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Salmon (Wesley), Jeffrey (Richard) & Greeno (James) - Statistical Explanation and Statistical Relevance	No
Skow (Bradford)	Are There Genuine Physical Explanations of Mathematical Phenomena?	Paper - By Subtopic	Forthcoming in British Journal for the Philosophy of Science with the appendices removed	3%
Sneed (Joseph D.)	Procedural Syntax for Theory Elements	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman (John), Ed. - Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations	No
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic		Yes
Varela (Francisco J.) & Maturana (Humberto)	Mechanism and Biological Explanation	Paper - By Subtopic	Philosophy of Science , Sep., 1972, Vol. 39, No. 3 (Sep., 1972), pp. 378-382	17%
Walsh (Denis), Ed.	Naturalism, Evolution and the Mind	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Walsh (Denis), Ed. - Naturalism, Evolution and the Mind	12%

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Text Colour Conventions

1. Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2023

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