PHIL 346 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Chinese Room

• School: University of Arizona
• Department: Philosophy Main
• Course: PHIL 346
• Professor: All

Document Summary

Symbols and programs are purely abstract notions. Symbols are maniple without any reference to any meanings. Distinction between formal elements and intrinsic content. What hasn"t tired to be proved 1. that a computer cannot think (thinking isn"t equivalent to formal symbol manipulation) 2. only biologically based systems like brains can think. Sai thesis is that computers must be thinking because all there is to thinking is successful programs. Chinese room argument difference between symbols and meaning. Computationally, serial and parallel system are equivalent. Chinese room applies to any computational system. Computational processes are completely independent of hardware implementation. Brain not only instantiates a formal pattern, it also causes mental events by virtue of specific neurobiological processes. These of strongai says that any system whatsoever not only might have thoughts and feelings but must have thoughts and feelings provided only that it implements the right program with the right inputs and outputs.