The Structure of Thinking

Download or read book The Structure of Thinking written by Laura E. Wood and published by Andrews UK Limited. This book was released on 2013-06-17 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Analytic philosophers and cognitive scientists have long argued that the mind is a computer-like syntactical engine, and that all human mental capacities can be described as digital computational processes. This book presents an alternative, naturalistic view of human thinking, arguing that computers are merely sophisticated machines. Computers are only simulating thought when they crunch symbols, not thinking. Human cognition - semantics, de re reference, indexicals, meaning and causation - are all rooted in human experience and life. Without life and experience, these elements of discourse and knowledge refer to nothing. And without these elements of discourse and knowledge, syntax is vacant structure, not thinking.