Why Wittgenstein ought to have been a computationalist (and what a computationalist can gain from Wittgenstein)
Croatian Journal of Philosophy 3 (9):231-264 (2003)
| Abstract | Wittgenstein’s views invite a modest, functionalist account of mental states and regularities, or more specifically a causal/computational, representational theory of the mind (CRTT). It is only by understandingWittgenstein’s remarks in the context of a theory like CRTT that his insights have any real force; and it is only by recognizing those insights that CRTT can begin to account for sensations and our thoughts about them. For instance, Wittgenstein’s (in)famous remark that “an inner process stands in need of outward criteria” (PI:§580), so implausible read behaviorally, is entirely plausible if the “outward” is allowed to include computational facts about our brains. But what is especially penetrating about Wittgenstein’s discussion is his unique diagnosis of our puzzlement in this area, in particular, his suggestion that it is due to our captivation by “pictures” whose application to reality is left crucially under-specified. It is only by understanding. What sustains the naive picture is not a captivation by language, but, at least in part, our largely involuntary reactions to things that look and act like our conspecifics. We project a property into them correlative to that reaction in ourselves, and are, indeed, unwilling to project it into things that do not induce that reaction | |||||||||
| Keywords | Computationalism Functionalism Metaphysics Picture Representation Wittgenstein | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,672 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesDEREK A. McDOUGALL (2008). PICTURES PRIVACY AUGUSTINE AND THE MIND A UNITY IN WITTGENSTEIN'S PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS. JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH 33 (1):33-72.
David Egan (2011). Pictures in Wittgenstein's Later Philosophy. Philosophical Investigations 34 (1):55-76.
Tim Labron (2009). Wittgenstein and Theology. T & T Clark.
David G. Stern (1995). Wittgenstein on Mind and Language. Oxford University Press.
James Bogen (1964). Was Wittgenstein a Psychologist? (I). Inquiry 7 (1-4):374-378.
Anthony Kenny (2006). Wittgenstein. Blackwell Pub..
Steve Gerrard (1991). Wittgenstein's Philosophies of Mathematics. Synthese 87 (1):125-142.
Georges Rey (1994). Wittgenstein, Computationalism, and Qualia. In Roberto Casati, B. Smith & Stephen L. White (eds.), Philosophy and the Cognitive Sciences. Holder-Pichler-Tempsky.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads48 ( #22,379 of 549,066 )Recent downloads (6 months)3 ( #25,703 of 549,066 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
