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193Non-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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238Critical Review of Minds, Brains and ScienceNoûs 22 (4): 585-609. 1988.Critical Review of Searle's Minds, Brains and Science
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9Meinong 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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492Computers 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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462Syntax, 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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28Jim 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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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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19Leora 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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30Kurt 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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20Stanley 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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26Gerhard 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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22Fred 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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25Brian 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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105Computers 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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233Meinongian 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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87What 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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1238Understanding understanding: Syntactic semantics and computational cognitionPhilosophical Perspectives 9 49-88. 1995.John Searle once said: "The Chinese room shows what we knew all along: syntax by itself is not sufficient for semantics. (Does anyone actually deny this point, I mean straight out? Is anyone actually willing to say, straight out, that they think that syntax, in the sense of formal symbols, is really the same as semantic content, in the sense of meanings, thought contents, understanding, etc.?)." I say: "Yes". Stuart C. Shapiro has said: "Does that make any sense? Yes: Everything makes sense. The…Read more
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397Meinong, Defective Objects, and (Psycho-)Logical ParadoxGrazer Philosophische Studien 18 (1): 17-39. 1982.Alexius Meinong developed a notion of defective objects in order to account for various logical and psychological paradoxes. The notion is of historical interest, since it presages recent work on the logical paradoxes by Herzberger and Kripke. But it fails to do the job it was designed for. However, a technique implicit in Meinong's investigation is more successful and can be adapted to resolve a similar paradox discovered by Romane Clark in a revised version of Meinong's Theory of Objects due t…Read more
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3053Syntactic semantics: Foundations of computational natural language understandingIn James H. Fetzer (ed.), Aspects of AI, Kluwer Academic Publishers. 1988.This essay considers what it means to understand natural language and whether a computer running an artificial-intelligence program designed to understand natural language does in fact do so. It is argued that a certain kind of semantics is needed to understand natural language, that this kind of semantics is mere symbol manipulation (i.e., syntax), and that, hence, it is available to AI systems. Recent arguments by Searle and Dretske to the effect that computers cannot understand natural langua…Read more
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255How to pass a Turing test: Syntactic semantics, natural-language understanding, and first-person cognitionJournal of Logic, Language, and Information 9 (4): 467-490. 2000.I advocate a theory of syntactic semantics as a way of understanding how computers can think (and how the Chinese-Room-Argument objection to the Turing Test can be overcome): (1) Semantics, considered as the study of relations between symbols and meanings, can be turned into syntax â a study of relations among symbols (including meanings) â and hence syntax (i.e., symbol manipulation) can suffice for the semantical enterprise (contra Searle). (2) Semantics, considered as the process of under…Read more
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89This is a draft of the written version of comments on a paper by David Cole, presented orally at the American Philosophical Association Central Division meeting in New Orleans, 27 April 1990. Following the written comments are 2 appendices: One contains a letter to Cole updating these comments. The other is the handout from the oral presentation
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6Review: Kurt Konolige, What Awareness Isn't: A Sentential View of Implicit and Explicit Belief (review)Journal of Symbolic Logic 53 (2): 667-668. 1988.
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124An adverbial meinongian theoryAnalysis 39 (March): 75-81. 1979.A fundamental assumption of Alexius Meinong's 1904 Theory of Objects is the act-content-object analysis of psychological experiences. I suggest that Meinong's theory need not be based on this analysis, but that an adverbial theory might suffice. I then defend the adverbial alternative against an objection raised by Roderick Chisholm, and conclude by presenting an apparently more serious objection based on a paradox discovered by Romane Clark.
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521Quasi‐Indexicals and Knowledge ReportsCognitive Science 21 (1): 63-107. 1997.We present a computational analysis of de re, de dicto, and de se belief and knowledge reports. Our analysis solves a problem first observed by Hector-Neri Castañeda, namely, that the simple rule `(A knows that P) implies P' apparently does not hold if P contains a quasi-indexical. We present a single rule, in the context of a knowledge-representation and reasoning system, that holds for all P, including those containing quasi-indexicals. In so doing, we explore the difference between reasoning …Read more
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Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Computation, Misc |
Philosophy of Cognitive Science |
Philosophy of Mind |
Philosophy of Language |
Areas of Interest
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