Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Chinese Room: thought experiment by J.R. Searle - in a locked room sits a man who does not understand Chinese and translates notes that are slipped through under the door into Chinese with the help of a book with instructions. The discussion is about whether one can describe the system as a whole as an understanding system._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Terrence W. Deacon on Chinese Room - Dictionary of Arguments
I 445 Chinese Room/Deacon: in my opinion, this example is not about the difference between mind and pure mechanism. Rather, it is about the difference between indexical and symbolic representation. (Indexical: simple relation between a sign and an object - on the other hand, symbols themselves form a complex system with internal relations). >Signs, >Symbols, >Symbols/Deacon. I 446 Algorithm/mind/Deacon: wrong in the metaphor of the mind as an algorithm is that it confuses the map with the area. In the algorithm, the tokens of their base are stripped as indexes or icons and are manipulated in isolation. The walls of the Chinese Room make it impossible to interpret tokens as symbols. Only the typographical information remains. >Meaning, >Context, >Algorithms, We must therefore distinguish between the problem of symbolisation and that of the reference. Descartes does this when he describes animals as mere mechanical units. >Animals, >Animal language, >Reference. Chinese Room/Deacon: the example is not a model for the difference between human and animal mind, but rather for the difference between human and computer. >Computer model, >Computation, >Information processing/psychology._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Dea I T. W. Deacon The Symbolic Species: The Co-evolution of language and the Brain New York 1998 Dea II Terrence W. Deacon Incomplete Nature: How Mind Emerged from Matter New York 2013 |
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> Counter arguments against Deacon
> Counter arguments in relation to Chinese Room
Ed. Martin Schulz, access date 2024-04-27