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Wittgenstein's Remarks on the Foundations of AI

by: Stuart Shanker
en

0415097940  9780415097949 

 


Wittgenstein's Remarks on the Foundations of AI
By Stuart Shanker


 


Product Description:

In this lucid and meticulously researched book, Stuart Shanker discusses the theories expounded by Wittgenstein on the philosophy and psychology of cognitive science and the development of artificial intelligence.



Summary: An outstanding study: thorough, lucid and rigorous.
Rating: 5

This book is a definitive study of Wittgenstein's relation to Turing and the mathematical traditions which inspired modern computational theorising and artificial intelligence. It is an eloquent and superbly-argued defense of Wittgenstein's many arguments against what came to be called 'cognitivism' in psychology and philosophy. Shanker's mastery of the philosophical and mathematical background to contemporary cognitivist theses is unparalleled. Here is a masterful treatment of a range of complex issues by one of the world's leading philosophers of mathematics and Wittgenstein scholars. An absolute MUST for philosophers of mind, psychology and cognitive science. The opening chapter sets the tone for the entire work: it is a highly original and provocative account of a much-neglected aspect of Wittgenstein's remarks on the philosophy of mathematics: his attack on Turing's misconception of his own achievement, and his crucial distinction between normative and causal accounts of computation. Readers will also find a wealth of richly-described historical materials here, all incorporated into a sustained and rigorous array of logical arguments and philosophical clarifications. Although there are several quite technical considerations addressed in this work, the prose is lucid, engaging and rigorous. A really fine piece of work, deserving of a significant audience, not necessarily solely of specialists in these fields.