This notice is from the archives of The Notice Board. Information contained in this notice was accurate at the time of publication but may no longer be so.
The Department of Philosophy will offer the following in Fall 2018:
Title: The Mental Life of Some Machines
Instructor: Prof. Victor Rodych
Day/Time: TR 13:40 - 14:55
Prerequisite(s): One course (3.0 credit hours) in Philosophy
What is a machine? Can a machine think? The best chess players on Earth are computers that can crush Magnus Carlsen, the current World Champion (for humans!). Some think that this is clearly a strong argument for the conclusion that machines can think! But is it? Cognitive Science and its many disciplines—Psychology, Neuroscience, Computer Science, Philosophy of Mind, Information Theory, Biology and Biochemistry, et al.—have sought to explain human beings, their mental events and contents and behaviour, in a variety of ways. Is, for instance, the input-output approach of Behaviorism and mature Psychology the right approach? Can we fully understand human minds and behaviour in terms of stimuli and behaviour, and schedules of reinforcement? Or must Neuroscience make substantial advances before there is any hope of explaining human beings and their intentions, imaginings, reasoning, and actions? And however these questions are answered, where does this leave the digital computer on which all International Chess Grandmasters rely to prepare for and analyze their games?! Maybe the answer is that since we are (organic) machines, inorganic machines must be able to have minds! But in that case the matter of minds doesn’t really matter. This course will examine the work of philosophers, psychologists, and others working in the field in an attempt to answer these and related questions.
Contact Prof. Rodych for more details (rodych@uleth.ca)
Contact:
Bev Garnett | bev.garnett@uleth.ca | (403) 380-1894
