Psychophysical Harmony: A New Argument for Theism

1. Introduction

• Development of a new argument from consciousness to theism: the argument from psychophysical harmony.

• Psychophysical harmony refers to the favorable correlation between phenomenal states (conscious experiences) and physical states, particularly in how they relate to behavior and verbal reports:

  • Example: Pain correlates with avoidance behavior (e.g., withdrawing from damaging stimuli).

  • This paper aims to show that psychophysical harmony provides strong evidence for the existence of God (theism).

2. Evidence for Theism from Psychophysical Harmony

• The argument posits that God has reasons to design psychophysical laws to realize values associated with harmony.

• Two controversial metaphysical assumptions made initially:

  • Dualism: Phenomenal and physical domains are distinct and co-fundamental.

  • Causal Completeness: Every physical event has a sufficient causal explanation based on prior physical events.

• Argument remains valid under alternative views on consciousness (e.g., dualist interactionism, physicalism).

3. Parallels with Cosmological Fine-Tuning Arguments

• The argument suggests that psychophysical harmony is not threatened by multiverse hypotheses, unlike traditional cosmological arguments.

• Theism understood as the belief in an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good creator of the universe.

• Potential alternative explanations include axiarchism and other forms of deism that do not require divine attributes of omnipotence or omniscience.

4. Structure of Arguments from Consciousness to Theism

• Previous arguments share a similar structure:

  1. Argue against physicalist accounts of consciousness.

  2. Assert necessity of personal explanations for correlations between conscious and physical states.

  3. Offer strong likelihood of a personal agent (i.e., God) explaining these correlations.

• Key differences of this argument:

  • Focus on psychophysical harmony rather than mere existence of correlations.

  • No reliance on complexity of psychophysical laws for argument validity.

  • Argument does not require rejecting physicalism upfront.

5. Psychophysical Harmony Defined

• Psychophysical Harmony: States of consciousness exhibit harmonious correlations with physical states, perceived as mysteriously fortunate.

• Key types include:

  • Normative Harmony: Psychological laws correlate physical functional states with conscious experiences in ways that provide rational justification.

    • Hedonic Harmony Example: Physical state representing pain maps onto an experience of pain that incites avoidance behavior.

    • Epistemic Harmony Example: Physical states producing beliefs about round objects correlate with visual experiences of roundness.

6. The Need for Explanation of Normative Harmony

• Difficult to provide a satisfactory evolutionary explanation for normative harmony, as evolution cannot dictate psychophysical laws.

• Contingent Normative Roles Explanation: Suggests experiences have normative roles based on their associated functional roles leading to perceived harmony.

• Critique of denying normative harmony or relying on error theory due to their implausibility.

7. Relationship Between Semantic and Normative Harmony

• Semantic Harmony: Phenomenal states are linked to verbal judgments, often showing a direct correspondence.

  • Ex.: Consciously expressing a round object correlates with the physical state indicative of roundness.

• Distinction from normative harmony, although examples may overlap.

• Challenges associated with common cause explanations do not satisfactorily address the luckiness of semantic relationships.

8. Arguments for Theism Based on Psychophysical Harmony

• Emphasizes the improbability of observed harmony on atheism vs. theistic frameworks.

• Bayesian Terms: Likelihood of harmony is significantly higher under theism compared to atheism, meriting comparison based on prior probabilities.

• Dismisses ideas of atheistic or multiverse hypotheses explaining harmony.

9. Conclusion

• Concludes that psychophysical harmony supports theism robustly and merits inclusion alongside traditional theistic arguments.

• Reassesses dualism and causal completeness as not strictly necessary for argument's strength.

• Suggests the investigation into psychophysical harmony is crucial for understanding consciousness and its divine implications.