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13592 | Beliefs can be ascribed to machines [Quine] |
Full Idea: Beliefs have been ascribed to machines, in support of a mechanistic philosophy, and I share this attitude. | |
From: Willard Quine (Intensions Revisited [1977], p.123) | |
A reaction: [He cites Raymond Nelson] One suspects that this is Quine's latent behaviourism speaking. It strikes me as a crass misuse of 'belief' to ascribe it to a simple machine like a thermostat. |