Language Of Thought Slides PDF

Language of Thought Physical Symbol System A physical symbol system has the necessary and sufficient means for general intelligent action. Symbols – physical patterns that can be combined to form more complex symbol structures Processes/rules – used for transforming symbols and symbol...

Language of Thought Physical Symbol System A physical symbol system has the necessary and sufficient means for general intelligent action. Symbols – physical patterns that can be combined to form more complex symbol structures Processes/rules – used for transforming symbols and symbol structures; can themselves be represented by symbols and symbol structures Language of Thought hypothesis What are symbols/symbol structures? How are they transformed? How do these transformations give rise to behavior? The Language of thought hypothesis by Jerry Fodor attempts to answer these questions. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-  Representation: physical state that functions to store information about the world Propositional attitude: a type of representation that is of particular interest when it comes to predicting and explaining behavior A propositional attitude has two components: propositional content + an attitudinal component Q: Why does Susan go the fridge? A: She wants a cold beer and believes there is a cold beer in the fridge. Q: Why does Susan go the fridge? A: She wants a cold beer and believes there is cold beer in the fridge. Q: Why does Susan go the fridge? A: She wants a cold beer and believes there is cold beer in the fridge. Attitudinal components Propositional content: that there is cold bear in the fridge Propositional attitudes A propositional attitude has two components: propositional content + an attitudinal component Is Propositional attitude psychology (belief – desire psychology) true? Eliminative Materialism: No. Propositional psychology is deeply flawed and must be replaced by a mature, completed neuroscience. Paul and Patricia Churchland. Eliminative Materialism Our behavior is caused by neurochemical reactions in the brain (not beliefs and desires). Intentional Realism Propositional attitude psychology (belief – desire psychology), that is, the practice of using beliefs and desires to predict and explain each other's behavior is successful because it is true - there really are beliefs and desires in our heads that cause our behaviors How does this work? How do propositional attitudes cause behavior? This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY- Causation by content A special kind of causation Behavior is not a response to a stimulus, but is caused by what is represented This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under Syntax vs. Semantics Formal/syntactic properties of a representation: depend on physical form Semantic properties of a representation: meaning/content The snow is white. La neige est blanche. La neve è bianca. Ձյունը սպիտակ է  “How can the brain be an information-processing machine if it is blind to the semantic properties of representations? How can the brain be an information- processing machine if all it can process are the formal properties of representations?” p. 85 Syntactic level vs Semantic level Syntactic level: Sentences in the language of thought interact in virtue of the formal/syntactic properties which mirrors Semantic level: propositions that stand in logical relations to each other 3 claims: (1)Causation through content is ultimately determined by causal interactions between physical structures (2)These physical structures have sentence-like structures, which determines how they are built up and how they interact with each other (3)Causal relations between sentences in the language of thought respect logical/rational relations between the contents of those sentences Fodor’s argument for the LOT Language of Thought hypothesis What are symbols/symbol structures? Sentences in the LOT How are they transformed? Syntactic rules that mirror semantic relations How do these transformations give rise to behavior? Through causal interactions between physical states This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-