Realization Conference
An interesting conference on realization, organized by Julie Yoo, recently took place at Lafayette College. See here for more details.
Author: Gualtiero Piccinini
First-person Data vs. Sense Data
David Chalmers helpfully pointed out that the first relevant use of “first-person data” appears to be due to Herbert Feigl (in “The ‘Mental’ and the ‘Physical’”, 1958). This brings up what seems to me a confusion in the current literature between first-person data as a kind of scientific data and …
First-person Data
The expression “first-person data” has become quite common in the consciousness studied literature, where it is used to refer to data about conscious experience, sometimes with the implication that these data are obtained only through introspection, and sometimes with the further implication that these are private data (as opposed to …
Philosophers’ Carnival #37
Here.
Recent Sources on Functions and Mechanisms
Next Spring, I’m teaching a course on mechanisms (mechanistic explanation) and functions (functional explanation). I’m considering some of the following sources: The Monist, 87.1 (2004). Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 37.1 (2006). Allen, C., M. Bekoff, and G. Lauder, Eds. (1998). Nature’s Purposes: Analysis of Function and Design …
The Unreliability of Introspection
Traditionally, many philosophers like to attribute special status to at least some kinds of knowledge that we have of our minds. The purported reliability of introspection is often invoked by those who propose to construct a first-person science–a science based on private evidence delivered through introspection. Even Daniel Dennett, a naturalist …
Beyond Modularity?
In the recent thread, the issue of modularity was discussed. Anibal wrote the following: “My humble view is that the brain is a brilliant plastic and distributed machine using one single module to more than one cognitive function and viceversa.”This reminded me of some recent, interesting work along these lines …