Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T06:38:46.788Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

35 - Levels: What Are They and What Are They Good For?

from Section 12

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2020

Kenneth S. Kendler
Affiliation:
Virginia Commonwealth University
Josef Parnas
Affiliation:
University of Copenhagen
Peter Zachar
Affiliation:
Auburn University, Montgomery
Get access

Summary

This chapter explores some issues having to do with levels in psychiatry and elsewhere in science. I distinguish among several different notions of level and discuss why talk of levels is sometimes useful in science, although it can also be a source of considerable confusion. I defend the claim that it is legitimate to think in terms of causal relations between levels (including so-called downward causation from upper to lower levels) against several recent criticisms, providing scientific example of when this motion seems appropriate.

Type
Chapter
Information
Levels of Analysis in Psychopathology
Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives
, pp. 424 - 449
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Batterman, R. (forthcoming) ‘Multiscale Modeling in Inactive and Active Materials.’Google Scholar
Batterman, R. (2019) ‘Universality and RG Explanations.’ Perspectives on Science 27(1):2647.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chalupka, K. Eberhardt, F., and Perona, P. (2017) ‘Causal Feature Learning: An Overview.’ Behaviormetrika 44:137164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craver, C. (2007) Explaining the Brain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craver, C. and Bechtel, W. (2007) ‘Top-down Causation without Top-Down Causes.’ Biology and Philosophy 22:547563.Google Scholar
Eronen, M. I. (2015) ‘Levels of Organization: A Deflationary Account.’ Biology and Philosophy 30(1):3958.Google Scholar
Glymour, M., Veling, W., and Susser, E. (2011) ‘Integrating Knowledge of Genetic and Environmental Pathways to Complete the Developmental Map.’ In Kendler, K., Jaffee, S., and Romer, D. (eds.), The Dynamic Genome and Mental Health. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kendler, K. and Campbell, J. (2009) ‘Interventionist Causal Models in Psychiatry: Repositioning the Mind–Body Problem.’ Psychological Medicine 39(6):881887.Google Scholar
Kendler, K. (2011) ‘A Conceptual Overview of Gene-Environment Interaction and Correlation in a Developmental Context.’ In Kendler, K., Jaffee, S., and Romer, D. (eds.), The Dynamic Genome and Mental Health. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Heil, J. (2017) ‘Downward Causation.’ In Paoletti, M. and Orilia, F. (eds.), Philosophical and Scientific Perspectives on Downward Causation. New York: Routledge, 4253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, D. (2000) ‘Causation as Influence.’ Reprinted in Collins, J., Hall, N., and Paul, L. (eds.), Causation and Counterfactuals. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Noble, D. (2006) The Music of Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Oppenheim, P. and Putnam, H. (1958) ‘The Unity of Science as a Working Hypothesis.’ In Feigl, H., Scriven, M., and Maxwell, G. (eds.), Concepts, Theories, and the Mind-Body Problem. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 336.Google Scholar
Wimsatt, W. (1994) ‘The Ontology of Complex Systems: Levels of Organization, Perspectives, and Causal Thickets.’ In Matthen, M. and Ware, R. (eds.), Biology and Society: Reflections on Methodology, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Supplementary Volume 20. Calgary: The University of Calgary Press, 207274.Google Scholar
Wilson, M. (2018) Physics Avoidance: Essays in Conceptual Strategy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Woodward, J. (2003) Making Things Happen: A Theory of Causal Explanation. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Woodward, J. (2015) ‘Interventionism and Causal Exclusion.’ Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 91:303347.Google Scholar
Woodward, J. (Forthcoming) ‘Explanatory Autonomy: The Role of Proportionality, Stability, and Conditional Irrelevance.’ Synthese.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×