The computational theory of mind--the belief that the mind can be likened to a computer and that cognitive states possess the generative and compositional properties of natural languages--has proven enormously influential in recent philosophical studies of cognition. In this carefully argued critique, Steven Horst pronounces the theory deficient. He refutes its claims and assumptions, particularly the assertion that symbolic representations need not have conventional meaning. Horst goes on to sketch a new methodology for looking at the philosophy of psychology, one that provides a more fruitful way of comparing computational psychology with rival views emerging from connectionism and neuroscience. Original and comprehensive, his book is certain to provoke controversy and stimulate debate.
Steven Horst is Professor of Philosophy at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT (USA), where he has taught since 1990.
Horst grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Boston University (BA 1982) and the University of Notre Dame (Ph.D. 1990).
In addition to being a professional philosopher, he is also a cellist, and was a pioneer in the use of cello in Irish music during the 1980s with the Notre Dame-based group Seamaisin. He is also a Deputy to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church.
His latest book, Laws, Mind and Free Will, is now available (March 2011, MIT Press).
Trivia for Amazon bibliophiles: At Boston University, Horst was the roommate of sci-fi author Neal Stephenson.
He maintains a personal website at http://www.stevenhorst.com
(Photo taken at the Eagle and Child pub in Oxford, UK, favorite hang-out of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and other members of "the Inklings".)
