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26-03-2020

The Abstraction/Representation Account of Computation and Subjective Experience

Author: Jochen Szangolies

Published in: Minds and Machines | Issue 2/2020

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Abstract

I examine the abstraction/representation theory of computation put forward by Horsman et al., connecting it to the broader notion of modeling, and in particular, model-based explanation, as considered by Rosen. I argue that the ‘representational entities’ it depends on cannot themselves be computational, and that, in particular, their representational capacities cannot be realized by computational means, and must remain explanatorily opaque to them. I then propose that representation might be realized by subjective experience (qualia), through being the bearer of the structure of abstract objects that are represented.

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Title: The Abstraction/Representation Account of Computation and Subjective Experience
Author: Jochen Szangolies
Publication date: 26-03-2020
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: Minds and Machines / Issue 2/2020
Print ISSN: 0924-6495
Electronic ISSN: 1572-8641
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11023-020-09522-x

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