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704I argue here that Frege’s eventual view on the relation between sentences and the thoughts they express is that, ideally, a sentence expresses exactly one thought, and a thought is expressed by exactly one (canonical) sentence. This may clash with some mainstream views of Frege, for it has the consequence of de-emphasizing the philosophical significance of the question of how it is possible for someone to regard one sentence as true yet regard another sentence that expresses the same thought as …Read more
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541Abstract Philosophical discussion of Alan Turing’s writings on intelligence has mostly revolved around a single point made in a paper published in the journal Mind in 1950. This is unfortunate, for Turing’s reflections on machine (artificial) intelligence, human intelligence, and the relation between them were more extensive and sophisticated. They are seen to be extremely well-considered and sound in retrospect. Recently, IBM developed a question-answering computer (Watson) that could compet…Read more
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523Physically Similar Systems: a history of the conceptIn Magnani Lorenzo & Bertolotti Tommaso Wayne (eds.), Springer Handbook of Model-Based Science, Springer. pp. 377-412. 2017.The concept of similar systems arose in physics, and appears to have originated with Newton in the seventeenth century. This chapter provides a critical history of the concept of physically similar systems, the twentieth century concept into which it developed. The concept was used in the nineteenth century in various fields of engineering, theoretical physics and theoretical and experimental hydrodynamics. In 1914, it was articulated in terms of ideas developed in the eighteenth century and use…Read more
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471Experimentation on Analogue ModelsIn Springer handbook of model-based science (2017), Springer. pp. 857-878. 2017.Summary Analogue models are actual physical setups used to model something else. They are especially useful when what we wish to investigate is difficult to observe or experiment upon due to size or distance in space or time: for example, if the thing we wish to investigate is too large, too far away, takes place on a time scale that is too long, does not yet exist or has ceased to exist. The range and variety of analogue models is too extensive to attempt a survey. In this article, I desc…Read more
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420The morals of model-makingStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 46 31-45. 2014.I address questions about values in model-making in engineering, specifically: Might the role of values be attributable solely to interests involved in specifying and using the model? Selected examples illustrate the surprisingly wide variety of things one must take into account in the model-making itself. The notions of system , and physically similar systems are important and powerful in determining what is relevant to an engineering model. Another example illustrates how an idea to completely…Read more
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340Turing's two tests for intelligenceMinds and Machines 10 (4): 541-559. 1999.On a literal reading of `Computing Machinery and Intelligence'', Alan Turing presented not one, but two, practical tests to replace the question `Can machines think?'' He presented them as equivalent. I show here that the first test described in that much-discussed paper is in fact not equivalent to the second one, which has since become known as `the Turing Test''. The two tests can yield different results; it is the first, neglected test that provides the more appropriate indication of intelli…Read more
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293Similarity and dimensional analysis (preprint - entry in handbook of philosophy of science, elsevier)In Anthonie W. M. Meijers (ed.), Handbook of the Philosophy of Science, . 2009.The topic of this Handbook entry is the relationship between similarity and dimensional analysis, and some of the philosophical issues involved in understanding and making use of that relationship. Discusses basics of the relationship between units, dimensions, and quantities. It explains the significance of dimensionless parameters, and explains that similarity of a physical systems is established by showing equality of a certain set of dimensionless parameters that characterizes the system beh…Read more
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291Kites, models and logic: Susan Sterrett investigates models in Wittgenstein's worldInterview About Book for SimplyCharly.Com. 2008/9.This is the text of Dr. Sterrett's replies to an interviewer's questions for simplycharly.com, a website with interviews by academics on various authors, philosophers, and scientists.
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163Pictures of sounds: Wittgenstein on gramophone records and the logic of depictionStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 36 (2): 351-362. 2005.The year that Ludwig Wittgenstein was born in Vienna, 1889, nearby developments already underway portended two major changes of the coming century: the advent of controlled heavier-than-air flight and the mass production of musical sound recordings. Before they brought about major social changes, though, these innovations appeared in Europe in the form of children’s toys. Both a rubber-band-powered model helicopter-like toy employing an ingenious solution to the problem of control, and a working…Read more
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110Turing on the Integration of Human and Machine IntelligenceIn Alisa Bokulich & Juliet Floyd (eds.), Philosophical Explorations of the Legacy of Alan Turing, Springer Verlag. pp. 323-338. 2017.Philosophical discussion of Alan Turing’s writings on intelligence has mostly revolved around a single point made in a paper published in the journal Mind in 1950. This is unfortunate, for Turing’s reflections on machine (artificial) intelligence, human intelligence, and the relation between them were more extensive and sophisticated. They are seen to be extremely well-considered and sound in retrospect. Recently, IBM developed a question-answering computer (Watson) that could compete against hu…Read more
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102Sounds Like Light: Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity and Mach's Work in Acoustics and AerodynamicsStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 29 (1): 1-35. 1998.Ernst Mach is the only person whom Einstein included on both the list of physicists he considered his true precursors, and the list of the philosophers who had most affected him. Einstein scholars have been less generous in their estimation of Mach's contributions to Einstein's work, and even amongst the more generous of them, Mach's great achievements in physics are seldom mentioned in this context. This is odd, considering Mach was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics three times. In this …Read more
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95Models of machines and models of phenomenaInternational Studies in the Philosophy of Science 20 (1). 2004.Experimental engineering models have been used both to model general phenomena, such as the onset of turbulence in fluid flow, and to predict the performance of machines of particular size and configuration in particular contexts. Various sorts of knowledge are involved in the method - logical consistency, general scientific principles, laws of specific sciences, and experience. I critically examine three different accounts of the foundations of the method of experimental engineering models (sca…Read more
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94Physical models and fundamental laws: Using one piece of the world to tell about anotherMind and Society 3 (1): 51-66. 2001.In this paper I discuss the relationship between model, theories, and laws in the practice of experimental scale modeling. The methodology of experimental scale modeling, also known as physical similarity, differs markedly from that of other kinds of models in ways that are important to issues in philosophy of science. Scale models are not discussed in much depth in mainstream philosophy of science. In this paper, I examine how scale models are used in making inferences. The main question I addr…Read more
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91Physical Pictures: Engineering Models Circa 1914 and in Wittgenstein’s TractatusVienna Circle Institute Yearbook 9 121-135. 2000.Today I want to talk about an element in the milieu in which Ludwig Wittgenstein conceived the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus that has not been recognized to date: the generalization of the methodology of experimental scale models that occurred just about the time he was writing it. I find it very helpful to keep in mind how this kind of model portrays when reading the Tractatus — in particular, when reading the statements about pictures and models, such as:That a picture is a fact ,That a pictu…Read more
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90Bringing up Turing's 'Child-Machine'In S. Barry Cooper (ed.), How the World Computes, . pp. 703--713. 2012.Turing wrote that the “guiding principle” of his investigation into the possibility of intelligent machinery was “The analogy [of machinery that might be made to show intelligent behavior] with the human brain.” [10] In his discussion of the investigations that Turing said were guided by this analogy, however, he employs a more far-reaching analogy: he eventually expands the analogy from the human brain out to “the human community as a whole.” Along the way, he takes note of an obvious fact in t…Read more
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86I survey a broad variety of models with an eye to asking what kind of model each is in the following sense: in virtue of what is each of them regarded as a model? It will be seen that when we classify models according to the answer to this question, it comes to light that the notion of model predominant in philosophy of science covers only some of the kinds of models used in scientific contexts. The notion of a model predominant in philosophy of science requires that a model be related to someth…Read more
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66How Beliefs Make A DifferenceDissertation, University of Pittsburgh. 1999.How are beliefs efficacious? One answer is: via rational intentional action. But there are other ways that beliefs are efficacious. This dissertation examines these other ways, and sketches an answer to the question of how beliefs are efficacious that takes into account how beliefs are involved in the full range of behavioral disciplines, from psychophysiology and cognition to social and economic phenomena. The account of how beliefs are efficacious I propose draws on work on active accounts of …Read more
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57This essay responds to a review of my book Wittgenstein Flies A Kite: A Story of Models of Wings and Models of the World by Peter Simons that appears in the March 2009 issue of the journal Metascience.
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55Darwin's analogy between artificial and natural selection: how does it go?Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 33 (1): 151-168. 2002.The analogy Darwin drew between artificial and natural selection in "On the Origin of Species" has a detailed structure that has not been appreciated. In Darwin’s analogy, the kind of artificial selection called Methodical selection is analogous to the principle of divergence in nature, and the kind of artificial selection called Unconscious selection is analogous to the principle of extinction in nature. This paper argues that it is the analogy between these two different principles familiar fr…Read more
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51. Some disagreements have arisen in the last few years regarding the role played by material properties when modeling, simulating and experimenting on physical systems (Morrison 2008, Parker (forthcoming), Winsberg (forthcoming), Guala 2002, 2005; Morgan 2005). The question has proven more involved than it first appears. A number of significant and correct points have already been made, but some confusions remain. In this paper I attempt to sort them out. After pointing out the importance of som…Read more
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51Nested Algorithms and "The Original Imitation Game Test": A Reply to James MoorMinds and Machines 12 (1): 131-136. 2002.In "The Status and Future of the Turing Test" (Moor, 2001), which appeared in an earlier issue of this journal, James Moor remarks on my paper "Turing's Two Tests for Intelligence." In my paper I had claimed that, whatever Turing may or may not have thought, the test described in the opening section of Turing's now legendary 1950 paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" is not equivalent to, and in fact is superior to, the test described in a passage that occurs much later in Turing's paper …Read more
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49I examine Frege’s explanation of how Hilbert ought to have presented his proofs of the independence of the axioms of geometry: in terms of mappings between (what we would call) fully interpreted statements. This helps make sense of Frege’s objections to the notion of different interpretations, which many have found puzzling. (The paper is the text of a talk presented in October 1994.).
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47Three views of logic: Mathematics, Philosophy, Computer SciencePrinceton University Press. 2014.Demonstrating the different roles that logic plays in the disciplines of computer science, mathematics, and philosophy, this concise undergraduate textbook covers select topics from three different areas of logic: proof theory, computability theory, and nonclassical logic. The book balances accessibility, breadth, and rigor, and is designed so that its materials will fit into a single semester. Its distinctive presentation of traditional logic material will enhance readers' capabilities and math…Read more
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47Wittgenstein flies a kite: a story of models of wings and models of the worldPenguin/Pi Press. 2005.Toys to overcome time, distance, and gravity -- To fly like a bird, not float like a cloud -- Finding a place in the world -- A new continent -- A new age-old problem to solve -- The physics of miniature worlds -- Models of wings and models of the world -- A world made of facts.
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44The Genius of the 'Original Imitation Game' TestMinds and Machines 30 (4): 469-486. 2020.Twenty years ago in "Turing's Two Tests for Intelligence" I distinguished two distinct tests to be found in Alan Turing's 1950 paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence": one by then very well-known, the other neglected. I also explained the significance of the neglected test. This paper revisits some of the points in that paper and explains why they are even more relevant today. It also discusses the value of tests for machine intelligence based on games humans play, giving an analysis of som…Read more
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40Daniela Bailer-Jones. Scientific Models in Philosophy of Science. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009. Pp. 248. $45.95 (review)Hopos: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science 3 (2): 334-337. 2013.
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27Sounds Like Light: Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity and Mach's Work in Acoustics and AerodynamicsStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 29 (1): 1-35. 1998.View/download or read preprint via a streaming viewer with the turning page feature in SOAR, or click on the DOI link to access the publisher's copy of this article
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26This paper investigates the following proposal about machine intelligence: that behaviour in which a habitual response that would have been inappropriate in a certain unfamiliar situation is overridden and replaced by a more appropriate response be considered evidence of intelligence. The proposal was made in an earlier paper (Sterrett 2000) and arose from an analysis of a neglected test for intelligence hinted at in Turing's legendary 'Computing Machinery and Intelligence'; it was also argued t…Read more
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26Putting Wittgenstein's writing into an historical context that includes scientific and technological developments as well as cultural and intellectual works can be helpful in understanding some of Wittgenstein's works. I focus on the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus in particular in this paper, and on topics related to pictures and models: the development of audio recording technologies, the development of miniature scale models that were both aesthetically pleasing and scientifically useful, part…Read more