A Neurocomputational Perspective: The Nature Of Mind And The Structure Of Science

BRADFORD BOOKS A NEUROCOMPUTATIONAL PERSPECTIVE The Nature of Mind and the Structure of S cie n ce Paul M. Churchland "O ccasionally s o m e o ne does something genuinely creative in philosophy. Such a c ­ complishments are rare enough that w hen they do o ccur they are not too hard to spot If doubts had remained, the publication of Paul Churchland’s A Neurocomputational Perspective: The Nature of Mind and the Structure of Science surely s e c u r e s his position a s one of today's most creative philosophers." — Robert N. McCauley, Philosophical Psychology If w e are to solve the central problems in the philosophy of science, Paul Churchland argues, w e must d raw heavily on the resou rce s of the emerging s c ie n c e s of the mindbrain. A Neurocomputational Perspective illustrates the fertility of the con cepts and data drawn from the study of the brain and of artificial networks that model the brain. T hese co n cepts bring unexpected coh ere n ce to scattered issues in the philosophy of s cie n c e, n ew solutions to old philosophical problems, and n ew possibilities for the enterprise of s c ie n c e itself. Paul M. Churchland is P rofessor of Philosophy and a member of the Cognitive S c ie n c e Faculty at the University of California at San Diego. A NEUROCOMPUTATIONAL P e r s p e c tiv e The Nature of Mind and the Structure of Science The MIT Press M a ssa c h u s e tts Institute of Technology Cambridge, M a s sa c h u s e tts 02142 CHUPP 0-262-53106-2 978026253106190000 PAUL M. CHURCHLAND A Neurocomputational Perspective A Neurocomputational Perspective The Nature of Mind and the Structure of Science Paul M. Churchland A Bradford Book The MIT Press C am bridge, M assachusetts L on d on , England First МIT Press paperback edition, 1992 © 1989 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electro­ nic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. This book was set in Palatino by Asco Trade Typesetting Ltd., Hong Kong, and printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Churchland, Paul M ., 1942A neurocomputational perspective: the nature of mind and the structure of science/Paul M. Churchland. p. cm. Bibliography: p. Includes index. ISBN 0-262-03151-5 (HB), 0-262-53106-2 (PB) 1. Intellect. 2. Consciousness. 3. Cognition. 4. Neural computers. 5. Science— Philosophy. 6. Psychology— Philosophy. 7. Science and psychology. I. Title. BF431.C48 1989 128'. 1— dc20 89-9398 CIP For M ark and A nne, tw o lam ps against the darkness Contents Preface xi PART I The N atu re of Mind C h ap ter 1 Elim inative M aterialism and the Prepositional A ttitudes 1 W hy F olk Psychology Is a Theory 2 2 W hy F olk P sychology M ight (Really) Be False 6 3 A rgum ents against Elim ination 9 4 The Conservative N ature o f Functionalism 12 5 B eyond F olk P sychology 17 1 C h ap ter 2 Functionalism , Qualia, and Intentionality 23 1 F ou r P roblem s concerning Q ualia 23 2 The Problem o f N onstandard R ealizations 34 3 Functionalism and M ethodology 44 C h ap ter 3 R eduction, Qualia, and the Direct Introspection of Brain States 1 Intertheoretic Reduction 47 2 T heoretical Change and P erceptual Change 52 3 Thom as N agel's A rgum ents 56 4 Jackson's K now ledge A rgum ent 61 C h ap ter 4 K now ing Qualia: A Reply to Jackson 67 1 The P ersisten t Equivocation 67 2 O ther Invalid Instances 71 3 A G enuinely N onequivocal Know ledge A rgum ent 72 4 C onverting a Third-Person A ccount into a First-Person A ccount 47 74<