Many have seen a glaring problem with Searle’s use of the Chinese Room Argument, namely that it shows too much. If we place the necessary conditions for the mental too high, we run the risk of thereby disqualifying human-mentality. It is with this very idea in mind that Searle embraces a seemingly vague position in which biological matter has some undefined and undescovered capacity to cause mental states, whatever those are for Searle. This appeal to our “causal powers” is essentially the only vangaurd which Searle has against the brain-simulator reply. (more…)
February 19, 2007
The Chinese Room, pt. 4
Last year I put out quite a few posts concerning John Searle’s Chinese Room Argument. Well, I’ve returned to the subject to find that my comments and criticisms miss the point to some degree or another. Since I will be writing a decent sized paper on the subject over the next few weeks, you can expect to see a few posts of varying length in the near future. (more…)
