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Single Idea 2993

[filed under theme 17. Mind and Body / C. Functionalism / 2. Machine Functionalism ]

Full Idea

For any machine that computes a function by executing an explicit algorithm, there exists a hard-wired machine that computes the same function by not executing an explicit algorithm.

Clarification

An 'algorithm' is a sequence of procedures for performing a task

Gist of Idea

Any piece of software can always be hard-wired

Source

Jerry A. Fodor (Psychosemantics [1987], p. 23)

Book Ref

Fodor,Jerry A.: 'Psychosemantics' [MIT 1993], p.23


A Reaction

It is certainly vital for functionalists to understand that software can be hardwired. Presumably we should understand a hardwired alogirthm as 'implicit'?


The 9 ideas with the same theme [mind is in principle a Turing machine]:

The soul's faculties depend on the brain, and are simply the brain's organisation [La Mettrie]
Basic logic can be done by syntax, with no semantics [Gödel, by Rey]
Instances of pain are physical tokens, but the nature of pain is more abstract [Putnam, by Lycan]
Functionalism says robots and people are the same at one level of abstraction [Putnam]
A representational theory of the mind is an externalist theory of the mind [Dretske]
In the Representational view, concepts play the key linking role [Fodor]
Any piece of software can always be hard-wired [Fodor]
The distinction between software and hardware is not clear in computing [Lycan]
Functionalism has three linked levels: physical, functional, and mental [Lycan]