Ned Block

Ned Joel Block ( born 1942 in Chicago) is an American philosopher and a professor at New York University.

Life

Block earned his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in 1966 from Harvard University. Since 1996 he has held a chair in philosophy and psychology at New York University. Block was president of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology and the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. 2014, he received the Jean Nicod Prize.

Criticism of functionalism

Block main area of ​​work is the philosophy of mind. He is known especially for his criticism of the theory of functionalism. Functionalism argues that a mental state is nothing more than a functional state of the brain. Each functional state is determined, to output a certain output for a certain input and merges into a different functional state. Functional states can be realized in different systems. Therefore, many functionalists assume that it is possible in principle also build computer with confidence. You would only have the same functional architecture such as the brain.

In the 1978 essay published Troubles with Functionalism Block argued against functionalism. By means of a thought experiment, he tried to imagine a situation in which a system has the same functional architecture, as a man, but no consciousness. If such a system could exist, should not be identical with functional states of mental states.

Block imagines that the Chinese government carried out a large-scale Funktionalismusexperiment. Each of the 1.3 billion Chinese would get a radio device with which he can contact other Chinese. Would coordinate the project over huge spotlights that project commands to the cloud cover. Such a system of Chinese, radios and headlights could, so block, realize, at least for a short time each functional state that a person can realize. Nevertheless, it would, according to block completely absurd to suppose that such a system would have mental states. He concludes that functional and mental states can not be identical.

Criticism of the Turing Test

In the article Psychologism Behaviourism and the 1981 block has also formulated an influential criticism of the Turing test. The Turing test was developed by the computer pioneer Alan Turing to give a criterion for the question under what conditions a computer a human- par with thinking capacity could be awarded. Turing said that a computer could then just think if he with a human partner this can disguise the fact in a chat that he is merely a computer.

Block is of the opinion that non -thinking systems could pass the Turing test. For the question after thinking it came also to the internal structure of the system and not only on its behavioral output. This block tries to show, by the computer system Blockhead imagines that successfully pass the Turing test. Block argues that only a finite number of conversation histories are possible in a natural language and in a finite time. The Blockhead system should now have saved any course of conversation and easily retrieve from its database if necessary. Such a system could pass the Turing test exist without being in possession of even a spark of intelligence or thinking skills. Block postulated not mean that the Blockhead system is practically feasible. He just wants to show that a system is coherent to imagine that passes the Turing test and still can not think.

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