Simulation of Consciousness, and pragmatic accounting for language

Conference paper (2017)

Authors

S. Rainey De Montfort University
Affiliation
External organisation
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

2017

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Affiliation

External organisation

Abstract

The possibilities for the simulation of consciousness are convincingly critiqued by Chinese Room type arguments. This paper discusses what meaning the simulation of consciousness could have anyway, in terms of objectivity and subjectivity. In terms of an attempt to create in silico (or otherwise) a simulation of consciousness this means seeing how ascriptions of such terms ought to be made. Drawing upon Sellars, Kant, and Merlau-Ponty, it is argued that whether or not something really manifests consciousness is not the only question worth pursuing (firstly needing clarification). Further, it suggests that it is plausible that pragmatic accounts of meaningful language use could pose novel questions for Chinese Room type arguments in moving from syntax-plus-semantic accounts of language to an account based in the deployment of abilities.