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Single Idea 18562

[from 'Doing Without Concepts' by Edouard Machery, in 17. Mind and Body / E. Mind as Physical / 4. Connectionism ]

Full Idea

Connectionists typically do not distinguish between processes and memory stores, and, more importantly, it is unclear whether connectionists can draw a distinction between the knowledge stored in a concept and the background.

Gist of Idea

Connectionists cannot distinguish concept-memories from their background, or the processes

Source

Edouard Machery (Doing Without Concepts [2009], 1.1)

Book Reference

Machery,Edouard: 'Doing Without Concepts' [OUP 2009], p.13


A Reaction

In other words connectionism fails to capture the structured nature of our thinking. There is an innate structure (which, say I, should mainly be seen as 'mental files').