
The Physical Signature of Computation
A Robust Mapping Account
Oxford University Press
Published on 2. July 2024
Book
Hardback
344 pages
978-0-19-883364-2 (ISBN)
Description
In The Physical Signature of Computation, Neal Anderson and Gualtiero Piccinini articulate and defend the robust mapping account--the most systematic, rigorous, and comprehensive account of computational implementation to date. Drawing in part from recent results in physical information theory, they argue that mapping accounts of implementation can be made adequate by incorporating appropriate physical constraints. According to the robust mapping account, the key constraint on mappings from physical to computational states--the key for establishing that a computation is physically implemented--is physical-computational equivalence: evolving physical states bear neither more nor less information about the evolving computation than do the computational states they map onto. When this highly nontrivial constraint is satisfied, among others that are spelled out as part of the account, a physical system can be said to implement a computation in a robust sense, which means that the system bears the physical signature of the computation. Anderson and Piccinini apply their robust mapping account to important questions in physical foundations of computation and cognitive science, including the alleged indeterminacy of computation, pancomputationalism, and the computational theory of mind. They show that physical computation is determinate, nontrivial versions of pancomputationalism fail, and cognition involves computation only insofar as neurocognitive systems bear the physical signature of specific computations. They also argue that both consciousness and physics outstrip computation.
Reviews / Votes
The Physical Signature of Computation offers a rigorous standard for identifying computational systems, bridging philosophy, physics,and information theory. This review has scarcely exhausted the material covered in the book, which also engages with the applied issues of the implementation of mental states and contributes to debates surrounding teleosemantics. I believe the book will prove to be essential reading for years to come. * John F. W. Smiles, Metascience * Taken as a whole, The Physical Signature of Computation is a clear triumph. Anderson and Piccinini have put forward a substantive, meticulously crafted work, not only in terms of a novel and sophisticated account of implementation, but also in terms of working out the formal implications. With expert clarity and attention to detail, Anderson and Piccinini have offered an excellent example of how to assemble a clear-headed, rigorous treatment of physical computation. The book will be of interest not only to philosophers with a taste for metaphysical argument and formal detail, but those more generally interested in understanding the foundations of contemporary cognitive and computational science. * Luke Kersten, BJPS Review of Books *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
14 line drawings
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 165 mm
Thickness: 5 mm
Weight
680 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-883364-2 (9780198833642)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Neal G. Anderson | Gualtiero Piccinini
The Physical Signature of Computation
A Robust Mapping Account
E-Book
07/2024
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€87.99
Available for download

Neal G. Anderson | Gualtiero Piccinini
The Physical Signature of Computation
A Robust Mapping Account
E-Book
06/2024
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€87.99
Available for download
Persons
Neal G. Anderson is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where his research and teaching has emphasized various aspects of physical electronics. His current research focuses are the physical dimensions of information and computation, their physical-information-theoretic description, and their implications for our fundamental understanding of information processing and for future information technologies.
Gualtiero Piccinini is Curators' Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Associate Director of the Center for Neurodynamics at the University of Missouri--St. Louis. In 2014, he received the Herbert A. Simon Award from the International Association for Computing and Philosophy. In 2018, he received the K. Jon Barwise Prize from the American Philosophical Association. In 2019, he received the Chancellor's Award for Research and Creativity from University of Missouri - St. Louis. His publications include Physical Computation: A Mechanistic Account (OUP 2015), Neurocognitive Mechanisms: Explaining Biological Cognition (OUP 2020), and The Computational Theory of Mind (with Matteo Colombo, 2023).
Gualtiero Piccinini is Curators' Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Associate Director of the Center for Neurodynamics at the University of Missouri--St. Louis. In 2014, he received the Herbert A. Simon Award from the International Association for Computing and Philosophy. In 2018, he received the K. Jon Barwise Prize from the American Philosophical Association. In 2019, he received the Chancellor's Award for Research and Creativity from University of Missouri - St. Louis. His publications include Physical Computation: A Mechanistic Account (OUP 2015), Neurocognitive Mechanisms: Explaining Biological Cognition (OUP 2020), and The Computational Theory of Mind (with Matteo Colombo, 2023).
Author
Professor of Electrical & Computer EngineeringProfessor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Curators' Distinguished Professor of PhilosophyCurators' Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of Missouri-St. Louis
Content
Introduction 1: Physical Computation: A Philosophical Primer 2: Physical and Computational Description 3: Computational Description of Physical Systems 4: Descriptive Strength and the Adequacy of Implementation Claims 5: The Robust Mapping Account of Implementation 6: Unlimited Pancomputationalism 7: Limited Pancomputationalism 8: Ontic Pancomputationalism 9: Computation and the Mind 10: Conclusion: The Physical Signature of Computation Appendix A: Satisfaction of Criterion PCE Appendix B: Selected Results from Physical Information Theory