the Chinese room argument (preliminaries): arguments and intentionality · can computers think?...
Transcript of the Chinese room argument (preliminaries): arguments and intentionality · can computers think?...
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24.09 Minds and Machines Fall 11 HASS-D CI
the Chinese room argument (preliminaries): arguments and intentionality
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chatbots on God
Image removed due to copyright restrictions.
http://youtu.be/WnzlbyTZsQY
see also http://cleverbot.com/
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can computers think?
Searle’s ‘Chinese room argument’
first, arguments and intentionality
intentionality figures prominently in ‘Minds, brains, and programs’
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arguments
an argument is a list of sentences (statements), P1,...Pn, C
the Pi are the premises, and C is the
conclusion
see the guide to logic and argumentation
two concepts to master: validity and
soundness
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valid or invalid?
P1: Romney is a Martian
P2: If Romney is a Martian, Perry is from Venus
C: Perry is from Venus
P1: Bachmann is not a Martian
C: Bachmann is not a Martian
P1: Perry is from Venus
P2: Perry is not from Venus
C: Bachmann is a Martian 24.09 F11 5
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valid or invalid?
P1: no professors are ignorant
P2: all ignorant people are vain
C: no professors are vain
vain people P1: all lions are fierce
P2: some lions do not drink coffee
C: some creatures that drink coffee are not fierce
ignoramuses
profs
fierce things
lions
coffee abstainers
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examples of intentionality
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Fido is furry!
Fido is furry
Fido is furry
Fido es peludo
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intentionality
...is that feature, possessed by (e.g.) words and mental states, of being ‘about’—representing, referring to—something.The belief that Fido is furry is a mental state that is about Fido. And the word ‘Fido’ refers to the dog, Fido. So these are two examples of intentionality.
NB: don’t confuse intentionality with intending something.The latter is just one example, along with believing and desiring, of an intentional mental state.
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derived vs. underived intentionality
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Fido is furry!
Fido is furry
Fido is furry
Fido es peludo
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derived vs. underived intentionality
Something has derived intentionality just in case its intentionality can be explained in terms of the intentionality of something else (see Searle, Mind: A Brief Introduction,5.) Plausibly, ‘dog’ refers to dogs in virtue of the beliefs, intentions, etc., of English speakers—hence ‘dog’ has derived intentionality; my belief that dogs have fur is an intentional state, and doesn’t have its intentionality in virtue of the intentionality of anything else—hence my belief has underived (or original) intentionality. If thinking is conducted in a language written in the brain, then the words of this language have underived intentionality.
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underived intentionality and the CRA
Searle’s Chinese room argument is directed against the claim that instantiating a computer program is sufficient for underived intentionality
it is plainly not sufficient for derived intentionality (the designers of the program might not take it to be ‘about’ anything)
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read Searle,‘Minds, brains,...’, and Block
reading for next session
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