
The Mechanization of the Mind
On the Origins of Cognitive Science
Jean-Pierre Dupuy(Author)
Princeton University Press
Published on 24. December 2000
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-0-691-02574-2 (ISBN)
Description
In March 1946, some of the greatest minds of the twentieth century--among them John von Neumann, Norbert Wiener, Warren McCulloch, and Walter Pitts--gathered at the Beekman Hotel in New York City with the aim of constructing a science of mental behavior that would resolve at last the ancient philosophical problem of mind and matter. The legacy of their collaboration is known today as cognitive science. Jean-Pierre Dupuy, one of the principal architects of cognitive science in France, reconstructs the early days of the field here in a provocative and engaging combination of philosophy, science, and historical detective work. He shows us how the ambitious and innovative ideas developed in the wake of that New York meeting prefigured some of the most important developments of late-twentieth-century thought. Many scholars, however, shunned the ideas as crude and resented them for being overpromoted. This rejection, Dupuy reveals, was a tragic mistake and a lost opportunity.
As Dupuy explains, the founders of cognitive science--or, as they called it, "cybernetics"--drew passion and energy from two convictions: that the mind operates like a machine and that physical laws explain how nature can appear to have meaning. Armed with these convictions, they laid the foundations not only for cognitive science but also artificial intelligence, and foreshadowed the development of chaos theory, complexity theory, and a variety of other major scientific and philosophical breakthroughs. Today, their ideas speak directly to controversies that rage between cognitivists and connectionists, eliminative materialists and Wittgensteinians, functionalists and anti-reductionists. However, despite their genuine achievements, the cyberneticians had too much confidence in the power of their theories and made serious mistakes that led the next generation of thinkers to ignore their work. The development of a scientific theory of mind was thus significantly delayed.
A profound and beautifully written book, The Mechanization of the Mind brings back to life the intellectual brilliance and excitement that attended the birth of cognitive science more than fifty years ago, and recasts our understanding of the history of the twentieth century thought.
As Dupuy explains, the founders of cognitive science--or, as they called it, "cybernetics"--drew passion and energy from two convictions: that the mind operates like a machine and that physical laws explain how nature can appear to have meaning. Armed with these convictions, they laid the foundations not only for cognitive science but also artificial intelligence, and foreshadowed the development of chaos theory, complexity theory, and a variety of other major scientific and philosophical breakthroughs. Today, their ideas speak directly to controversies that rage between cognitivists and connectionists, eliminative materialists and Wittgensteinians, functionalists and anti-reductionists. However, despite their genuine achievements, the cyberneticians had too much confidence in the power of their theories and made serious mistakes that led the next generation of thinkers to ignore their work. The development of a scientific theory of mind was thus significantly delayed.
A profound and beautifully written book, The Mechanization of the Mind brings back to life the intellectual brilliance and excitement that attended the birth of cognitive science more than fifty years ago, and recasts our understanding of the history of the twentieth century thought.
Reviews / Votes
[An] elegant and lucid work... A superb example of detective work in the history of ideas. -- Steven Poole The Guardian A healthy prescription for those engaged in advancing theories of cognition. -- igor Aleksander New Scientist A history, a map through tortuous scientific terrain, a high-level user's manual, and a gripping tale. -- Rodney M. J. Cotterill American Journal of PsychologyMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Trade binding
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
482 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-02574-2 (9780691025742)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2021
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€30.49
Available for download
Persons
Jean-Pierre Dupuy is Professor of Social and Political Philosophy at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, where he founded and directs the Applied Epistemology Research Center (CREA), one of the leading research institutions in France devoted to cognitive and social science. In addition, he holds a professorship at Stanford University and is a researcher in Stanford's Center for the Study of Language and Information (C.S.L.I.).
Content
Preface to the English-Language Edition ix INTRODUCTION: The Self-Mechanized Mind 3 The Cybernetic Credo 3 Cybernetics and Cognitivism 11 The Question of Humanism 15 History of Science vs. History of Ideas 22 CHAPTER 1: The Fascination with Models 27 The Virtue of Models 28 Manipulating Representations 31 The Turing Machine 33 Knowing as Simulating 40 CHAPTER 2: A Poorly Loved Parent 43 A New Scienza Nuova? 44 Mechanizing the Human 49 BrainlMindlMachine 52 McCulloch's Neurons 58 Connectionism vs. Cognitivism 64 Von Neumann's Machine 65 CHAPTER 3: The Limits of Interdisciplinarity 70 The Macy Conferences 71 The Cyberneticians in Debate 76 Unifying the Work of the Mind 80 The Physicalist Temptation 84 CHAPTER 4: Philosophy and Cognition 90 Naturalizing Epistemology 91 The Obstacle of Intentionality 94 Brentano Betrayed 99 The Missed Encounter with Phenomenology 102 A Subjectless Philosophy of Mind 107 McCulloch us. Wiener 110 CHAPTER 5: From Information to Complexity 113 Information and Physicalism 113 Between Form, Chance, and Meaning 119 Cooperation and Cognition 123 Cybernetic Totalities 126 System and Autonomy 133 Complexity: The Model Becomes Blurred I37 CHAPTER 6: Aspects of a Failure 144 Learning about Complexity 145 The "Ashby Case," or the Return to Metaphysics 148 Subjectless Processes 155 The Missed Rendezvous with the Human Sciences 158 Notes 163 Bibliography 191 Index 201