For questions about the work of John Searle (1932-), an american philosopher working in the analytic tradition.
Questions tagged [john-searle]
48 questions
28
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18 answers
Why is it impossible for a program or AI to have semantic understanding?
relatively new to philosophy.
This question is based on John Searle's Chinese Room Argument.
I find it odd that his main argument for why programs could not think was that because programs could only follow syntax rules but could not associate any…
Abraham
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5 answers
How can one refute John Searle's "syntax is not semantics" argument against strong AI?
There are many refutations of John Searle's Chinese Room argument against Strong AI. But they seem to be addressing the structure of the thought experiment itself, as opposed to the underlying epistemic principle that it is trying to illustrate.…
Alexander S King
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9 answers
What are the retorts to Searle's Chinese Room?
Searle's Chinese Room basically argues that a program cannot make a computer 'intelligent'.
Searle summarises the argument as
Imagine a native English speaker who knows no Chinese locked in a room full of boxes of Chinese symbols (a data base)…
dorzey
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10
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3 answers
What other philosophy of mind books might be recommended if I like John Searle?
What other philosophy of mind books might be recommended if I like John Searle? I am an engineer who is interested in AI and the possibility of machines become able to think and the philosophy behind this topic.
I have already enjoyed listening to a…
M.Sameer
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4 answers
How does human intelligence differ from Searle's chinese room?
The Chinese Room argument attempts to prove that a computer, no matter how powerful, cannot achieve consciousness.
Brief summary:
Imagine a native English speaker who knows no Chinese locked in a room full of boxes of Chinese symbols (a data base)…
J.Doe
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7 answers
Does Searle's Chinese Room model computers correctly?
Searle invented a thought experiment, the Chinese Room, which he proposes is an argument against Strong AI (that machines think) but not against Weak AI (that machines simulate thinking), he has a man in a room manipulating chinese symbols via an…
Mozibur Ullah
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2 answers
Can there be a sufficient account of meaning without an account of intentionality?
Much has been said in recent philosophy in criticism of representationalist theories of meaning. The idea is that any representation can represent what it will only in a prior, limiting context. Pragmatists focus on such a context as being one of…
Goob
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6
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Does a philosophy of language presuppose a philosophy of mind?
Ever since the "linguistic turn", philosophers have been keenly aware of the need of analyzing certain questions about language.
In retrospect, John Searle, in Expression and Meaning, notes "the philosophy of language is a branch of the philosophy…
Mithrandir
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Why doesn't Searle's argument apply against humans?
Here's "Complete argument" from Wikipedia:
(A1) "Programs are formal (syntactic)." A program uses syntax to
manipulate symbols and pays no attention to the semantics of the
symbols. It knows where to put the symbols and how to move them
around, but…
Dmitri Urbanowicz
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5
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5 answers
Is AI in a Crisis of Science?
According to Thomas S. Kuhn in his classic work, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions:
...'normal science' presupposes a conceptual and instrumental
framework or paradigm accepted by an entire scientific community ...
[T]he resulting mode of…
Roddus
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2 answers
Searle on morality
Specifying my first question on Searle, I am looking for papers by Searle or others that deal with Searle's notion of moral responsibility or morality in general. I found a great deal about free will, but in these papers he refuses to talk about the…
iphigenie
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4 answers
Why are referring and predicating distinct from illocutionary acts?
I have been reading Searle's Speech Acts and he mentioned that in the four sentences mentioned below, while they share the same reference (Sam) and predication (smoking habitually), they are four instances of different illocutionary acts.
And then…
Constantly confused
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Why doesn't the Chinese room learn Chinese?
I just can't see how John Searle's Chinese room makes sense. The room passes the Turing test. People outside the room think there's a human inside who understands Chinese. But, Searle explains, the room actually contains, in analogical form, all the…
Roddus
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What is this reply to the Chinese Room argument?
The following reply to the Chinese Room argument came to my mind recently:
The whole activity of manipulating symbols described in CR is understanding in the usual sense of the word. My understanding of, say, English is nothing more than…
Constantine
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5
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What is wrong with the following argument for dualism?
In listening to the following philosophy of mind lecture by John Searle, and he mentions in passing the following argument against materialism (starting around 43 minutes into to the lecture):
Beliefs have the property of being either TRUE or…
Alexander S King
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