Searle- The Critique of Cognitive Reason (paper)

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1、TheCritiqueofCognitiveReason38JohnR.SearleInUoduction:TheShakyFoundationsofCognitiveScienceForoveradecade,reallysincethebeginningsofthediscipline,Ihave""beenapracticingcognitivescientist.InthisperiodIhaveseenmuchvaluableworkandprogressinthefield.However,asadiscipli

2、ne,cognitivesciencesuffersfromthefactthatseveralofitsmostcherishedfoundationalassumptionsaremistaken.Itispossibletodogoodworkonthebasisoffalseassumptions,butitismoredifficultthanneedbe;andinthischapterIwanttoexposeandrefutesomeofthosefalseassumptions.Theyderivefrom

3、thepatternofmistakesthatIdescribedearlier.Noteverybodyincognitivescienceagreesonthefoundationalprinciples,buttherearecertaingeneralfeaturesofthemainstreamthatdeserveaseparatestatement.IfIwereamainstreamcognitivescientist,hereiswhatIwouldsay:Neitherthestudyofthebrai

4、nassuchnorthestudyofconsciousnessassuchisofmuchinterestandimportancetocognitivescience.Thecognitivemechanismswestudyareindeedimplementedinthebrain,andsomeofthemfindasurfaceexpressionintheconsciousness,butourinterestisintheintermediatelevelwheretheactualcognitivepro

5、cessesareinaccessibletoconsciousness.Thoughinfactimplementedinthebrain,theycouldhavebeenimplementedinanindefinitenumberofhardwaresystems.Brainsarethere,butinessential.Theprocesseswhichexplaincognitionareunconsciousnotonlyinfact,butinprinciple.Forexample,Chomsky'sru

6、lesofuniversalgrammar(1986),orMarr'srulesofvision(1982),orFodor'slanguageofthought(1975)arenotthesortofphenomenathatcouldbecomeconscious.Furthermore,theseprocessesareallcomputational.Thebasicassumptionbehindcognitivescienceisthatthebrainisacomputerandmentalprocesse

7、sarecomputational.Forthatreasonmanyofusthinkthatartificialintelligence(AI)istheheartofcognitivescience.ThereissomedisputeamongusastowhetherornotthebrainisadigitalcomputerFromJ.Searle,Therediscoveryofthemind(1992).Cambridge,MA:MITPress.Reprintedbypermission.oftheol

8、4-fashionedvonNeumannvarietyorwhetheritisaconnec-tionistmachine.Someofus,infact,managetohaveourcakeandeatittooonthisquestion,becausewethinktheser