Work · Analytic Philosophy
Minds, Brains, and Programs (The Chinese Room)
Symbol manipulation is not understanding.
Introduction
A target article published in 1980 in the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences, together with critical commentaries by other researchers and Searle’s replies. In the thought experiment Searle, who knows no Chinese, sits in a room and uses a rule book to match incoming Chinese characters with outgoing ones; to people outside, the room seems to understand Chinese. Since he understands nothing, Searle concludes, running a program cannot be sufficient for understanding. His target is “strong AI”, the claim that a suitably programmed computer literally has a mind, not the use of computers as tools for studying the mind (“weak AI”). The best-known objection, the “systems reply”, holds that the room as a whole understands.
Connections
Criticizes
- Computing Machinery and Intelligence1950 · Alan Turing
Criticized in
- Consciousness Explained1991 · Daniel Dennett
More works by John Searle
- 1969Speech Acts
Appears in
- Journey ‘The Riddle of Consciousness’ · Stop 8 of 10
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