Posts by John
Computational Models of Emergent Properties in “Minds & Machines” (2008) 18:475–491
Computational models fail to shed light on general metaphysical questions concerning the nature of emergence. At the same time, they may provide plausible explanations of particular cases of emergence. This paper outlines the kinds of modest explanations to which computational models are suited. Read more here: Computational Models of Emergent Properties
Read More‘A Computational Modeling Strategy for Levels’ Philosophy of Science 75, (2008) pp. 608-620
Rather than taking the ontological fundamentality of an ideal microphysics as a starting point, this article sketches an approach to the problem of levels that swaps assumptions about ontology for assumptions about inquiry. These assumptions can be implemented formally via computational modeling techniques that will be described below. It is argued that these models offer…
Read More“The Complexity of Information Processing Tasks in Vision.’” In Carlos Gershenson, Diederik Aerts, and Bruce Edmonds (eds.) “Philosophy and Complexity: Essays on Epistemology, Evolution, and Emergence.” Singapore: World Scientific 300-314, 2007
The basic presupposition of cognitive science is that mental life is more complicated (or complex) than it appears; there is more to memory, attention, perception and the like, than meets the inner eye. In most mainstream cognitive science, the hidden workings of the mind are treated as information processing systems…Read more here: The Complexity of Information…
Read MoreTowards a General Description of Physical Invariance in Category Theory (with Julio Urenda and Vladik Kreinovich) in “The Journal of Uncertain Systems” 2007, 1, pp.170-175
Invariance is one of the most important notions in applications of mathematics. It is one of the key concepts in modern physics, is a computational tool that helps in solving complex equations, etc. In view of its importance, it is desirable to come up with a definition of invariance which is as general as possible.…
Read MoreDennett: Un Naturalisme en Chantier
Where’s the Bridge: Epistemology and Epistemic Logic (with Vincent Hendricks) in “Philosophical Studies” Vol. 128, No. 1 2006 pp. 137-167
Epistemic logic begins with the recognition that our everyday talk about knowing and believing has some systematic features that we can track and reflect upon. Epistemic logicians have studied and extended these glints of systematic structure in fascinating and important ways since the early 1960s. However, for one reason or another,mainstream epistemologists have shown…
Read MoreMasses of Formal Philosophy
Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science
Formal Philosophy
Quantifiers, Questions, and Quantum Physics: Essays on the Philosophy of Jaakko Hintikka 2004 (co-edited with Dan Kolak)
A sample of some of the material is here: ‘Quantifiers, Questions and Quantum Physics- Essays on the Philosophy of Jaakko Hintikka’
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