An old philosophical chestnut discussed in The Atlantic. Words and concepts used by a brain in a vat can’t be meaningfully applied to real objects outside of the brain’s experience, because the ability to have causal interaction with the specific things that words name is inherently how such words acquire meaning, Putnam argued. Artificial intelligenceCognitive…
Speaking of physics . . . here is Tim Maudlin on The Nature of Reality blog. EinsteinmathematicsmetaphysicsNatural sciencePhilosophyPhysicsQuantum mechanicsrealityRichard FeynmanStephen HawkingTim Maudlin
Yet another article on techno-ebullience. Alva NoëArtificial intelligenceBuddhismCognitionCognitive neuroscienceCognitive sciencecomplexityconsciousnessDavid ChalmersDerek ParfitDescartesdistributed cognitionExtended Mindphilosophical psychologyPhilosophy of mindRay KurzweilSingularityStephen Hawking
The conversation continues . . . Allow me to quote Nietzsche (although I know that will be considered by some to be in bad taste): “As the circle of science grows larger, it touches paradox at more places.” Physicists expand the circle, and philosophers help clear up the paradoxes. May both camps flourish. bertrand russellDavid…
From The Guardian – here as well. Analytic philosophyAnglo-SaxonGodNewtonPhilosophyPhilosophy of scienceStephen HawkingUniverse
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