Richmond, Andrew (2022) How Computation Explains. [Preprint]
 | There is a more recent version of this item available. |
|
Text
HCE Preprint.pdf Download (161kB) | Preview |
Abstract
I discuss the monumental shift in our understanding of the brain triggered by the project of computational cognitive science: the use of tools, concepts, and strategies from the computer sciences to investigate the brain. Philosophers have typically understood this project, and the computational explanations it provides, to assume that the brain is a computer, in a sense to be specified by the metaphysics of computation. That metaphysics, by revealing what exactly we attribute to the brain when we say it computes, is supposed to show how and why computational explanations work, and in doing so to provide a philosophical foundation for them. In contrast, I give an account of computational explanation that focuses on the resources computational explanations bring to bear on the study of the brain. I argue that computational explanations help cognitive scientists build perspicuous models that capture precisely the kinds of causal structures they seek, and that no metaphysics of computation is required to understand how they do this.
| Export/Citation: | EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL |
| Social Networking: |
| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creators: |
|
||||||
| Keywords: | Computation, Scientific Explanation, Deflationism, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Neuroscience > Cognitive Neuroscience Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science > Computation General Issues > Explanation |
||||||
| Depositing User: | Andrew Richmond | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 20 Sep 2022 16:20 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 20 Sep 2022 16:20 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 21184 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Neuroscience > Cognitive Neuroscience Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science > Computation General Issues > Explanation |
||||||
| Date: | 2022 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/21184 |
Available Versions of this Item
- How Computation Explains. (deposited 20 Sep 2022 16:20) [Currently Displayed]
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[feed]](http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/style/images/feed-icon-32x32.png){kind=icon}