Tags / 6 quotes from 2 sources
#externalism
Introducing Artificial Intelligence (Henry Brighton and Howard Selina)
Bateson: what thinks is a total circuit
“We used to argue whether a machine could think. The answer is, ‘No’. What thinks is a total circuit, including perhaps a computer, a man, and an environment. Similarly, we may ask whether a brain can think, and again the answer will be, ‘No’. What thinks is a brain inside a…
Mind: A Brief Introduction (John R. Searle)
Externalism and the stagnation of philosophy of language
Finally, more controversially, I think the philosophy of language has reached a period of relative stagnation because of certain common mistakes that surround the doctrine of so-called externalism, the idea that the meanings of words, and by extension the contents of our minds…
Internalism versus externalism
The view that I have been tacitly assuming throughout this book is a form of internalism. According to internalism, so construed, our intentional contents are entirely a matter of what is inside our heads. Of course they refer to objects and states of affairs in the world. That…
Meanings just ain't in the head
You might think that “water” could be defined as a clear, colorless, tasteless liquid found in lakes and streams and coming out of the sky in the form of rain. But, says Hilary Putnam, that does not give the meaning of “water.” To see this, imagine a galaxy just like ours, with…
Indexical definitions are still in the mind
What are we to make of these arguments? I admire the philosophical acumen of their authors, but I think both arguments are fallacious. The basic idea of internalism is that the mind—and by “mind” here we mean what is inside the head—sets conditions that an object must meet in…
Is the condition in the speaker's head
The question is, Is the condition associated with the word something that is represented in the speaker’s mind / brain, or is it something that is in part independent of the speaker’s mind / brain? According to the internalist, the condition must be represented in the speaker’s…