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What are Herbert Feigl’s nomological danglers?

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Bronze bust of Epicurus with a full beard and draped clothing, displayed on a round inscribed base at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. — Materialism Epicurus, bronze bust from a Greek original, c. 280–270 bce; in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

In the philosophy of materialism, Herbert Feigl used the term "nomological danglers" to describe irreducible physical-mental laws.1

The concept arises from the desire for a unified science, where all phenomena are explained by a cohesive network of scientific laws. While physical events are correlated with mental events, if these mental events are not identical to physical ones, one must posit ultimate, irreducible laws to explain their relationship.1

These laws are problematic for two reasons:
* Complexity: Unlike fundamental scientific laws that relate simple entities like particles, these laws would have to refer to highly complex brain processes involving millions of neurons.1
* Isolation: Because they would not fit into the existing network of scientific laws, they appear as "excrescences" or "danglers" on the face of science.1

A primary goal of materialism is to eliminate the need for these danglers by demonstrating that mental phenomena are not distinct from physical ones, thereby avoiding the necessity of such anomalous laws.1