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171Non-Existent Objects and Epistemological OntologyGrazer Philosophische Studien 26 (1): 61-95. 1985.This essay examines the role of non-existent objects in "epistemological ontology"--the study of the entities that make thinking possible. An earlier revision of Meinong's Theory of Objects is reviewed, Meinong's notions of Quasisein and Aussersein are discussed, and a theory of Meinongian objects as "combinatorially possible" entities is presented.
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220Critical Review of Minds, Brains and ScienceNoûs 22 (4): 585-609. 1988.Critical Review of Searle's Minds, Brains and Science
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7Meinong and the Principle of Independence. Its Place in Meinong's Theory of Objects and Its Significance in Contemporary Philosophical LogicJournal of Symbolic Logic 51 (1): 248-252. 1986.
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459Computers Are Syntax All the Way Down: Reply to BozşahinMinds and Machines 29 (2): 227-237. 2019.A response to a recent critique by Cem Bozşahin of the theory of syntactic semantics as it applies to Helen Keller, and some applications of the theory to the philosophy of computer science.
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435Syntax, Semantics, and Computer ProgramsPhilosophy and Technology 33 (2): 309-321. 2020.Turner argues that computer programs must have purposes, that implementation is not a kind of semantics, and that computers might need to understand what they do. I respectfully disagree: Computer programs need not have purposes, implementation is a kind of semantic interpretation, and neither human computers nor computing machines need to understand what they do.
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31Raymond M. Smullyan. Logicians who reason about themselves. Theoretical aspects of reasoning about knowledge, Proceedings of the 1986 conference, edited by Joseph Y. Halpern, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Los Altos1986, pp. 341–352 (review)Journal of Symbolic Logic 53 (2): 668-669. 1988.
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18Leora Morgenstern. A first order theory of planning, knowledge, and action. Theoretical aspects of reasoning about knowledge, Proceedings of the 1986 conference, edited by Joseph Y. Halpern, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Los Altos1986, pp. 99–114 (review)Journal of Symbolic Logic 53 (2): 664-665. 1988.
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17Jaakko Hintikka. Reasoning about knowledge in philosophy: the paradigm of epistemic logic. Theoretical aspects of reasoning about knowledge, Proceedings of the 1986 conference, edited by Joseph Y. Halpern, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Los Altos1986, pp. 63–80 (review)Journal of Symbolic Logic 53 (2): 663-664. 1988.
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29Kurt Konolige. What awareness isn't: a sentential view of implicit and explicit belief. Theoretical aspects of reasoning about knowledge, Proceedings of the 1986 conference, edited by Joseph Y. Halpern, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Los Altos1986, pp. 241–250 (review)Journal of Symbolic Logic 53 (2): 667-668. 1988.
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17Joseph Y. Halpern. Reasoning about knowledge: an overview. Theoretical aspects of reasoning about knowledge, Proceedings of the 1986 conference, edited by Joseph Y. Halpern, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Los Altos1986, pp. 1–17 (review)Journal of Symbolic Logic 53 (2): 660-661. 1988.
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23Gordon Plotkin and Colin Stirling. A framework for intuitionistic modal logics. Theoretical aspects of reasoning about knowledge, Proceedings of the 1986 conference, edited by Joseph Y. Halpern, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Los Altos1986, pp. 399–406 (review)Journal of Symbolic Logic 53 (2): 669. 1988.
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19Stanley J. Rosenschein and Leslie Pack Kaelbling. The synthesis of digital machines with provable epistemic properties. Theoretical aspects of reasoning about knowledge, Proceedings of the 1986 conference, edited by Joseph Y. Halpern, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Los Altos1986, pp. 83–98 (review)Journal of Symbolic Logic 53 (2): 664. 1988.
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21Gerhard Lakemeyer. Steps towards a first-order logic of explicit and implicit belief. Theoretical aspects of reasoning about knowledge, Proceedings of the 1986 conference, edited by Joseph Y. Halpern, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Los Altos1986, pp. 325–340 (review)Journal of Symbolic Logic 53 (2): 668. 1988.
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21Fred Landman. Pegs and alecs. An abridged version of LIII 656. Theoretical aspects of reasoning about knowledge, Proceedings of the 1986 conference, edited by Joseph Y. Halpern, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Los Altos1986, pp. 45–61 (review)Journal of Symbolic Logic 53 (2): 662-663. 1988.
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21Jim Des Rivières and Hector J. Levesque. The consistency of syntactical treatments of knowledge. Theoretical aspects of reasoning about knowledge, Proceedings of the 1986 conference, edited by Joseph Y. Halpern, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Los Altos1986, pp. 115–130 (review)Journal of Symbolic Logic 53 (2): 665-666. 1988.
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20Brian Cantwell Smith. Varieties of self-reference. Theoretical aspects of reasoning about knowledge, Proceedings of the 1986 conference, edited by Joseph Y. Halpern, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Los Altos1986, pp. 19–43 (review)Journal of Symbolic Logic 53 (2): 661-662. 1988.
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84Computers Are Syntax All the Way Down: Reply to BozşahinMinds and Machines 29 (2): 227-237. 2019.A response to a recent critique by Cem Bozşahin of the theory of syntactic semantics as it applies to Helen Keller, and some applications of the theory to the philosophy of computer science.
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200Meinongian Semantics and Artificial IntelligenceHumana Mente 6 (25): 25-52. 2013.This essay describes computational semantic networks for a philosophical audience and surveys several approaches to semantic-network semantics. In particular, propositional semantic networks are discussed; it is argued that only a fully intensional, Meinongian semantics is appropriate for them; and several Meinongian systems are presented.
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81What is a Computer? A SurveyMinds and Machines 28 (3): 385-426. 2018.A critical survey of some attempts to define ‘computer’, beginning with some informal ones, then critically evaluating those of three philosophers, and concluding with an examination of whether the brain and the universe are computers.
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923Models and mindsIn Robert E. Cummins & John L. Pollock (eds.), Philosophy and AI, Mit Press. pp. 215--259. 1991.Cognitive agents, whether human or computer, that engage in natural-language discourse and that have beliefs about the beliefs of other cognitive agents must be able to represent objects the way they believe them to be and the way they believe others believe them to be. They must be able to represent other cognitive agents both as objects of beliefs and as agents of beliefs. They must be able to represent their own beliefs, and they must be able to represent beliefs as objects of beliefs. These …Read more
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417On cogito propositionsPhilosophical Studies 29 (1): 63-68. 1976.I argue that George Nakhnikian's analysis of the logic of cogito propositions (roughly, Descartes's 'cogito' and 'sum') is incomplete. The incompleteness is rectified by showing that disjunctions of cogito propositions with contingent, non-cogito propositions satisfy conditions of incorrigibility, self-certifyingness, and pragmatic consistency; hence, they belong to the class of propositions with whose help a complete characterization of cogito propositions is made possible.
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32Thought, Language, and Ontology, Essays in Memory of Hector-Neri Castaneda (edited book)Kluwer Academic Publishers. 1998.The late Hector-Neri Castañeda, the Mahlon Powell Professor of Philosophy at Indiana University, and founding editor of Noûs, has deeply influenced current analytic philosophy with diverse contributions, including guise theory, the theory of indicators and quasi-indicators, and the proposition/practition theory. This volume collects 15 papers--for the most part previously unpublished--in ontology, philosophy of language, cognitive science, and related areas by ex-students of Professor Castañeda,…Read more
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561Logical foundations for belief representationCognitive Science 10 (4): 371-422. 1986.This essay presents a philosophical and computational theory of the representation of de re, de dicto, nested, and quasi-indexical belief reports expressed in natural language. The propositional Semantic Network Processing System (SNePS) is used for representing and reasoning about these reports. In particular, quasi-indicators (indexical expressions occurring in intentional contexts and representing uses of indicators by another speaker) pose problems for natural-language representation and rea…Read more
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456The purpose of this essay is to exhibit in detail the setting for the version of the Cogito Argument that appears in Descartes’s Meditations. I believe that a close reading of the text can shed new light on the nature and role of the “evil demon”, on the nature of God as he appears in the first few Meditations, and on the place of the Cogito Argument in Descartes’s overall scheme.
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25Review: Raymond M. Smullyan, Logicians who Reason about Themselves (review)Journal of Symbolic Logic 53 (2): 668-669. 1988.
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643Because mere calculating isn't thinking: Comments on Hauser's Why Isn't My Pocket Calculator a Thinking Thing?Minds and Machines 3 (1): 11-20. 1993.Hauser argues that his pocket calculator (Cal) has certain arithmetical abilities: it seems Cal calculates. That calculating is thinking seems equally untendentious. Yet these two claims together provide premises for a seemingly valid syllogism whose conclusion - Cal thinks - most would deny. He considers several ways to avoid this conclusion, and finds them mostly wanting. Either we ourselves can't be said to think or calculate if our calculation-like performances are judged by the standard…Read more
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5Review: Jim des Rivieres, Hector J. Levesque, The Consistency of Syntactical Treatments of Knowledge (review)Journal of Symbolic Logic 53 (2): 665-666. 1988.
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Philosophy of Computation, Misc |
Philosophy of Cognitive Science |
Philosophy of Mind |
Philosophy of Language |
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