The Mechanical Mind
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Block.What.Psch.States.Not.1972.Pdf
Philosophical Review What Psychological States are Not Author(s): N. J. Block and J. A. Fodor Source: The Philosophical Review, Vol. 81, No. 2 (Apr., 1972), pp. 159-181 Published by: Duke University Press on behalf of Philosophical Review Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2183991 Accessed: 08/09/2009 16:04 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=duke. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Duke University Press and Philosophical Review are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Philosophical Review. -
Chapter 7 Mental Representation Mental Representation
Chapter 7 Mental Representation Mental Representation Mental representation is a systematic correspondence between some element of a target domain and some element of a modeling (or representation) domain. A representation, whether it be mental or any other, is a system of symbols. The system of symbols is isomorphic to another system (the represented system) so that conclusions drawn through the processing of the symbols in the representing system constitute valid inferences about the represented system. Isomorphic means `having the same form.' The following figure is a typical example of how we represent information mentally in our minds. Figure 8.12 A hierarchical network representation of concepts. Source: Collins and Quillian (1969) The cognitive psychologists have always agreed on the fact that human information processing depends on the mental representation of information; but there is a great disagreement with regard to the nature of this mental representation of information. Symbols are the representations that are amodal. They bear no necessary resemblance to the concept or percept they represent. The systematic correspondence between the two domains may be a matter of convention (only). For example, in algebra, we denote the different variables as x, y, z, and so on, but neither of these symbols have a direct resemblance to what they represent. Similarly, while solving a geometrical problem involving geometrical shapes, we might assign symbols such as A, B, or C to such geometrical shapes, even though these symbols do not have a direct resemblance to the shapes. Images are another way how the information can be represented in our minds. Images are basically representations that resemble what they represent in some non-arbitrary way. -
Magic, Semantics, and Putnam's Vat Brains
Published in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (««) t: [email protected] ;–tE. doi:10.1016/j.shpsc.2004.03.007 Magic, semantics, and Putnam’s vat brains Mark Sprevak Christina McLeish University of Edinburgh University of Cambridge Ït March «« In this paper we oòer an exegesis of Hilary Putnam’s classic argument against the brain-in-a-vat hypothesis oòered in his Reason, Truth and History (ÏÊÏ). In it, Putnam argues that we cannot be brains in a vat because the semantics of the situation make it incoherent for anyone to wonder whether they are a brain a vat.Putnam’s argument is that in order for ‘I am a brain in a vat’ to be true, the person uttering it would have to be able to refer successfully to those things: the vat, and the envatted brain. Putnam thinks that reference can’t be secured without relevant kinds of causal relations, which, if envatted, the brain would lack, and so, it fails to be able to meaningfully utter ‘I am a brain in a vat’. We consider the implications of Putnam’s arguments for the traditional sceptic. In conclusion, we discuss the role of Putnam’s arguments against the brain in a vat hypothesis in his larger defense of his own internal realism against metaphysical realism. Ï Introduction Consider the possibility, familiar to us in many guises, that instead of being a living breathing human, you are a brain in a vat. Almost everything that you believe about the external world is false. Your body, your friends, your family, your home—none of these things exist. -
(0) 625307185 Home A
Work address: University College Groningen, Hoendiepskade 23/24, NL-9718 BG Groningen, The Netherlands, +31 (0) 625307185 Home address: ‘t Olde Hof 43, NL-9951JX Winsum, The Netherlands Dr. Dr. Simon Friederich born 30/08/1981 in Heidelberg, Germany http://simonfriederich.eu Email: s.m.friederich @ rug.nl AREAS OF RESEARCH General philosophy of science, philosophy of physics Philosophy of mathematics Epistemology AREAS OF COMPETENCE Philosophy of mind; effective altruism EDUCATION 2019 Habilitation (German qualification for full professorship) in philosophy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany 2014 PhD in philosophy, Institute for Philosophy, University of Bonn, Germany; grade: “summa cum laude” 2010 PhD in physics, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Heidelberg, Germany; grade: “magna cum laude” 2008 Magister in philosophy Philosophisches Seminar, University of Göttingen, Germany; grade: “with distinction” 2007 Diploma in physics Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Göttingen, Germany; grade: “very good” CURRENT POSITION Since September 2019 Associate professor of philosophy of science, University of Groningen, University College Groningen (UCG) and Faculty of Philosophy, The Netherlands, Interim Academic Director of Humanities at UCG October 2014 – August 2018, Assistant professor of philosophy of science, University of Groningen, University College Groningen and Faculty of Philosophy, The Netherlands In addition, since August 2015, external member of the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP) PREVIOUS POSITIONS 2012 – 2014 substituting for a full professorship in theoretical philosophy, University of Göttingen 2011 – 2012 PostDoc at University of Wuppertal University, research collaboration “Epistemology of the Large Hadron Collider”, funded by the German Academic Foundation (DFG) RESEARCH VISITS July 2019 visiting scholar at the Rotman Institute of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario (Canada) Host: Prof. -
Perception and Representation in Leibniz
PERCEPTION AND REPRESENTATION IN LEIBNIZ by Stephen Montague Puryear B.S., Mechanical Engineering, North Carolina State University, 1994 M.A., Philosophy, Texas A&M University, 2000 M.A., Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh, 2004 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Department of Philosophy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2006 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY This dissertation was presented by Stephen Montague Puryear It was defended on December 5, 2005 and approved by Nicholas Rescher University Professor of Philosophy Robert B. Brandom Distinguished Service Professor of Philosophy Stephen Engstrom Associate Professor of Philosophy J. E. McGuire Professor of History and Philosophy of Science Dissertation Director: Nicholas Rescher University Professor of Philosophy ii Copyright °c by Stephen Montague Puryear 2006 iii PERCEPTION AND REPRESENTATION IN LEIBNIZ Stephen Montague Puryear, Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, 2006 Though Leibniz’s views about perception and representation go to the heart of his philosophy, they have received surprisingly little attention over the years and in many ways continue to be poorly understood. I aim to redress these shortcomings. The body of the work begins with an exploration of Leibniz’s proposed analysis of representation (Chapter 2). Here I argue that on this analysis representation consists in a kind of structural correspondence— roughly an isomorphism—between representation and thing represented. Special attention is given to the application of this analysis to the challenging cases of linguistic and mental representation. The next two chapters concern what I take to be the central issue of the work: the nature of distinct perception. -
Ideas and Confusion in Leibniz 1
This article was downloaded by: [Stanford University Libraries] On: 24 September 2012, At: 17:23 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK British Journal for the History of Philosophy Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rbjh20 Ideas and Confusion in Leibniz Shane Duarte a a Stanford University, Version of record first published: 22 Sep 2009. To cite this article: Shane Duarte (2009): Ideas and Confusion in Leibniz , British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 17:4, 705-733 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09608780903135089 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub- licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. British Journal for the History of Philosophy 17(4) 2009: 705–733 ARTICLE IDEAS AND CONFUSION IN LEIBNIZ1 Shane Duarte I. -
Information and Mental Representation †
Proceedings Information and Mental Representation † Wei Jiang School of Marxism, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an 710055, China; [email protected] † Presented at the Fourth International Conference on Philosophy of Information, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2–6 June 2019. Published: 11 June 2020 Abstract: Information has been used to explain mental representation. However, whether it succeeds in explaining the mentality of mental representation is an issue. In my view, although there are some advantages of this approach, mental representation cannot be reduced to informational processes for two reasons. First, informational processes cannot cover the distinctively subjective feature of mental representation, Second, informational processes cannot characterize the semantic properties of mental representation. Furthermore, I have some doubts regarding the intelligence of AI based on the problems of the informational approach to mental representation. Keywords: information; mental representation; semantic 1. Introduction Informational processes have been considered as a common way to explain mental representation. However, whether it is able to go further to cover the special features of mental representation, apart from explaining the underlying process, is still an issue. I stand for a negative point of view that the informational approach is not a successful and complete approach to explain mental representation, which probably thereafter sheds light on the non-intelligence of AI. 2. Background Mental representation has been one of the central issues in the philosophy of the mind. It refers to mental phenomena that have mental content. There are many examples of mental representation in our daily life, such as mental pictures, perception, belief, desire, imagination, memory, and so on. -
Peter Fisher Epstein Pembroke College University of Cambridge Curriculum Vitae CB2 1RF [email protected] United Kingdom Peterfisherepstein.Com
Peter Fisher Epstein Pembroke College University of Cambridge Curriculum Vitae CB2 1RF [email protected] United Kingdom peterfisherepstein.com EMPLOYMENT Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, 2017-2020 Junior Research Fellow (Randall Dillard Research Fellowship) Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy, 2020- Assistant Professor of Philosophy (tenure-track) VISITING POSITION New York University, Department of Philosophy, 2017-2019 Visiting Scholar AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION Philosophy of Mind Epistemology (including Formal Epistemology) Philosophy of Science AREAS OF COMPETENCE Metaphysics Philosophy of Physics Early Modern Philosophy EDUCATION University of California, Berkeley, 2008-2017 Ph.D., Philosophy, August 2017 Dissertation: Sensible Concepts: Experience and the A Priori (Committee: John Campbell (co-chair); Barry Stroud (co-chair); Geoffrey Lee; Tania Lombrozo) Harvard University, 2000-2004 A.B., summa cum laude, Philosophy (with Certificate in Mind, Brain, and Behavior), June 2004 Thesis: Comparing Qualia (Supervisor: Susanna Siegel; Readers: Mike Martin and Richard Heck) Awarded George Plimpton Adams Prize for best dissertation or undergraduate thesis in philosophy PUBLICATIONS “Shape Perception in a Relativistic Universe,” Mind (2018) “A Priori Concepts in Euclidean Proof,” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society (2018) “The Fine-Tuning Argument and the Requirement of Total Evidence,” Philosophy of Science (2017) GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS “Grounding Sensible Qualities” Project (Co-Principal Investigator), New Directions -
Introduction
Introduction At least four assumptions appear to be part of the common ground of inter pretation among scholars of Ockham. The first can be described as a kind of general methodological presupposition, in that it has become standard to explore the Franciscan as a potential contributor to current philosophical debates, such as the issue of externalism in the philosophy of language and in the philosophy of mind.1 The view that medieval philosophers – or at least, Ockham – are of interest only to historians and theologians does not enjoy great popularity, especially not among philosophers working in the tradition of analytic philosophy.2 Second, Ockham is usually labelled a nominalist. While nominalism is not a single unified position,3 Ockham can be called a nominalist insofar as he sub scribes to the view that there are only particular things in this world: he admits only of two kinds of things in his ontology, namely particular substances (Socrates, this apple) and particularized qualities (the wisdom of Socrates, the redness of this apple).4 It would perhaps be more fitting to call Ockham’s posi tion ‘particularistic’. He thereby takes a conceptual stance on the problem of universals.5 According to Ockham, universals are nothing but concepts exist ing in the intellect. There is nothing universal ‘out there’ in the world. That a concept such as whale or wisdom is universal means that whale is semantically 1 See for instance Peter King, ‘Rethinking Representation in the Middle Ages’, in H. Lagerlund (ed.), Representation and Objects of Thought in Medieval Philosophy, Hampshire, 2007; Calvin Normore, ‘Burge, Descartes and Us’, in M. -
Is There a Perceptual Relation?
3 Is There a Perceptual Relation? Tim Crane 1INTRODUCTION P. F. Strawson argued that ‘mature sensible experience (in general) presents itself as ...an immediate consciousness of the existence of things outside us’ (1979: 97). He began his defence of this very natural idea by asking how someone might typically give a description of their current visual experience, and offered this example of such a description: ‘I see the red light of the setting sun filtering through the black and thickly clustered branches of the elms; I see the dappled deer grazing in groups on the vivid green grass’ (1979: 97). In other words, in describing experience, we tend to describe the objects of experience—the things which we experience—and the ways they are when we are experiencing them. Some go further. According to Heidegger: We never ...originally and really perceive a throng of sensations, e.g., tones and noises, in the appearance of things ...; rather, we hear the storm whistling in the chimney, we hear the three-engine aeroplane, we hear the Mercedes in immediate distinction from the Volkswagen. Much closer to us than any sensations are the things themselves. We hear the door slam in the house, and never hear acoustic sensations or mere sounds. (1935: 156; quoted by Smith 2002: 105) Whether or not we all want to agree with Heidegger that we have immediate consciousness of the difference between a Volkswagen and a Mercedes, many of us will agree with him that in normal perceptual experience the ‘things them- selves’ seem much closer to us than a ‘throng of sensations’. -
Against Pointillisme About Mechanics
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by PhilSci Archive Against Pointillisme about Mechanics J. Butter¯eld1 All Souls College Oxford OX1 4AL 5 December 2005: forthcoming in British Journal for the Philosophy of Science Abstract This paper forms part of a wider campaign: to deny pointillisme. That is the doctrine that a physical theory's fundamental quantities are de¯ned at points of space or of spacetime, and represent intrinsic properties of such points or point-sized objects located there; so that properties of spatial or spatiotemporal regions and their material contents are determined by the point-by-point facts. More speci¯cally, this paper argues against pointillisme about the concept of velocity in classical mechanics; especially against proposals by Tooley, Robin- son and Lewis. A companion paper argues against pointillisme about (chrono)- geometry, as proposed by Bricker. To avoid technicalities, I conduct the argument almost entirely in the context of \Newtonian" ideas about space and time, and the classical mechanics of point- particles, i.e. extensionless particles moving in a void. But both the debate and my arguments carry over to relativistic physics. 1email: [email protected]; jeremy.butter¯[email protected] Contents 1 Introduction 2 2 The wider campaign 3 2.1 Connecting physics and metaphysics . 3 2.1.1 Avoiding controversy about the intrinsic-extrinsic distinction . 5 2.1.2 Distinction from three mathematical distinctions . 6 2.2 Classical mechanics is not pointilliste, and can be perdurantist . 7 2.2.1 Two versions of pointillisme ................... -
Arxiv:1406.4740V1 [Physics.Hist-Ph] 18 Jun 2014 H Nelt Fteps;Tedna Ftime
On Time chez Dummett Jeremy Butterfield Trinity College, Cambridge CB2 1TQ: [email protected] Published in The European Journal of Analytic Philosophy 8 (2012), 77-102; (a special issue about philosophy of physics, in honour of Michael Dummett) Keywords: The common now; seeing the present; the Everett interpretation; branching; the unreality of the past; the denial of time. Sat 12 May 2012 Abstract I discuss three connections between Dummett’s writings about time and philo- sophical aspects of physics. The first connection (Section 2) arises from remarks of Dummett’s about the different relations of observation to time and to space. The main point is uncon- troversial and applies equally to classical and quantum physics. It concerns the fact that perceptual processing is so rapid, compared with the typical time-scale on which macroscopic objects change their observable properties, that it engenders the idea of a ‘common now’, spread across space. The other two connections are specific to quantum theory, as interpreted along the lines of Everett. So for these two connections, the physics side is controversial, just as the philosophical side is. In Section 3, I connect the subjective uncertainty before an Everettian ‘splitting’ of the multiverse to Dummett’s suggestion, inspired by McTaggart, that a complete, i.e. indexical-free description of a temporal reality is impossible. And in Section 4, I connect Barbour’s denial that time is real—a denial along the lines of Everett, rather than McTaggart—to Dummett’s suggestion that statements about the past arXiv:1406.4740v1 [physics.hist-ph] 18 Jun 2014 are not determinately true or false, because they are not effectively decidable.