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Cognitive representation is the single most important explanatory notion in the sciences of the mind and has served as the cornerstone for the so-called 'cognitive revolution'. This book, originally published in 2007, critically examines the ways in which philosophers and cognitive scientists appeal to representations in their theories, and argues that there is considerable confusion about the nature of representational states. This has led to an excessive over-application of the notion - especially in many of the fresher theories in computational neuroscience. Representation Reconsidered shows how psychological research is actually moving in a non-representational direction, revealing a radical, though largely unnoticed, shift in our basic understanding of how the mind works.
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REPRESENTATION RECONSIDERED
Cognitive representation is the single most important explanatory notion in the sciences of the mind and has served as the corner-stone for the so-called ‘‘cognitive revolution.’’ This book critically examines the ways in which philosophers and cognitive scientists appeal to representations in their theories, and argues that there is considerable confusion about the nature of representational states. This has led to an excessive over-application of the notion – especially in many of the newer theories in computational neuroscience. Representation Reconsidered shows how psychological research is actually moving in a non-representational direction, revealing a radical, though largely unnoticed, shift in our basic understanding of how the mind works. W I L L I A M M . R A M S E Y is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame.
REPRESENTATION RECONSIDERED WILLIAM M. RAMSEY University of Notre Dame
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sa˜o Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge C B 2 8R U , UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521859875 # William M. Ramsey 2007 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2007 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library ISBN
978-0-521-85987-5 hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
For my parents, Jim and Diane Ramsey and for Mimi
Contents
List of figures Preface
page ix xi
1 Demands on a representational theory
1
Representation as cluster concept(s) The job description challenge Demarcating types of representation and types of representational theories Summary
8 24 34 36
2 Representation in classical computational theories: the Standard Interpretation and its problems
38
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
2.1 The CCTC and the Standard Interpretation 2.2 Difficulties with the Standard Interpretation 2.3 Summary
3 Two notions of representation in the classical computational framework 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5
IO-representation S-representation Two objections and their replies CCTC representation: further issues Summary
4 The receptor notion and its problems 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6
The receptor notion The receptor notion and the job description challenge Drets