The false dichotomy between causal realization and semantic computation

Authors

  • Marcin Miłkowski Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences image/svg+xml

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1689-4286.38.02

Keywords:

physical computation, semantic account of computation, mechanistic account of computation, mechanistic explanation, causal realization

Abstract

In this paper, I show how semantic factors constrain the understanding of the computational phenomena to be explained so that they help build better mechanistic models. In particular, understanding what cognitive systems may refer to is important in building better models of cognitive processes. For that purpose, a recent study of some phenomena in rats that are capable of ‘entertaining’ future paths (Pfeiffer and Foster 2013) is analyzed. The case shows that the mechanistic account of physical computation may be complemented with semantic considerations, and in many cases, it actually should.

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Published

2017-09-30

How to Cite

Miłkowski, M. (2017). The false dichotomy between causal realization and semantic computation. Hybris, 38(3), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.18778/1689-4286.38.02

Issue

Vol. 38 No. 3 (2017): Trends in contemporary polish philosophy of mind

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Articles

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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