166
Chapter Notes
as something which brings us news and knowledge goes far beyond the notion
as it is treated in the literature of science and engineering.
6. It has been known since the 1970s that a type of nerve cell in a brain area
called the hippocampus is activated when a rat is at a certain place in a room.
Other nerve cells are activated when the rat is at other places. It was concluded
that these cells are “place cells” in the brain. Taking up this research thirty years
later, May-Britt and Edvard Moser discovered another specific cell type in the
brain’s system for locating objects in space, and called them “grid cells”. These
cells actually give rise in the brain to a coordinate system which carries out
precise positioning and pathfinding.
7. Structural Realism is the leading theory of the relationship between scientific
ideas and the real world. Its ideas were pioneered by Bas van Fraassen, a Dutchborn philosopher of science. Today there is a large school of researchers writing
on the topic. An exceptionally clear exposition of the ideas is to be found in
the article “Everything you always wanted to know about structural realism
but were afraid to ask”, published in the European Journal on the Philosophy of
Science.
6. Materialism: The Brain As Computer
1. This subject is covered methodically in the book titled Physicalism by Daniel
Stoljar. An interesting discussion is given also in Jaegwon Kim’s 2007 book,
Physicalism, or Something Near Enough.
2. There’s Something About Mary by Peter Ludlow (Editor), Yujin Nagasawa
(Editor), Daniel Stoljar (Editor), MIT Press, 2004
3. According to a credible source, his name was prince Chalmers.
4. Dennett discusses “intuition pumps” in his 1984 book Elbow Room. He
describes them as thought experiments which harness a reader’s intuition to
help her or him better understand an abstract idea. The concept is further
elaborated in Dennett’s book Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking.
5. John Searle is a professor of philosophy at the University of California,
Berkeley. The Chinese Room argument is introduced in the article “Minds,
Brains and Programs” which appeared in the journal Minds, Brains and Programs in 1980. He discusses similar ideas in his address Is the Brain a Digital
Computer?. The same ideas are discussed in his 1992 book The Rediscovery of
the Mind.
6. The idea of emergence plays a central role in many contemporary debates
in science and philosophy. A good source for these ideas is the volume entitled
From Complexity to Life: On Emergence of Life and Meaning edited by Niels
Gregersen.
7. A similar approach to objectivism is discussed by the philosopher Donna
Haraway in her monograph Situated Knowledges. (See References). Haraway
Chapter Notes
as something which brings us news and knowledge goes far beyond the notion
as it is treated in the literature of science and engineering.
6. It has been known since the 1970s that a type of nerve cell in a brain area
called the hippocampus is activated when a rat is at a certain place in a room.
Other nerve cells are activated when the rat is at other places. It was concluded
that these cells are “place cells” in the brain. Taking up this research thirty years
later, May-Britt and Edvard Moser discovered another specific cell type in the
brain’s system for locating objects in space, and called them “grid cells”. These
cells actually give rise in the brain to a coordinate system which carries out
precise positioning and pathfinding.
7. Structural Realism is the leading theory of the relationship between scientific
ideas and the real world. Its ideas were pioneered by Bas van Fraassen, a Dutchborn philosopher of science. Today there is a large school of researchers writing
on the topic. An exceptionally clear exposition of the ideas is to be found in
the article “Everything you always wanted to know about structural realism
but were afraid to ask”, published in the European Journal on the Philosophy of
Science.
6. Materialism: The Brain As Computer
1. This subject is covered methodically in the book titled Physicalism by Daniel
Stoljar. An interesting discussion is given also in Jaegwon Kim’s 2007 book,
Physicalism, or Something Near Enough.
2. There’s Something About Mary by Peter Ludlow (Editor), Yujin Nagasawa
(Editor), Daniel Stoljar (Editor), MIT Press, 2004
3. According to a credible source, his name was prince Chalmers.
4. Dennett discusses “intuition pumps” in his 1984 book Elbow Room. He
describes them as thought experiments which harness a reader’s intuition to
help her or him better understand an abstract idea. The concept is further
elaborated in Dennett’s book Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking.
5. John Searle is a professor of philosophy at the University of California,
Berkeley. The Chinese Room argument is introduced in the article “Minds,
Brains and Programs” which appeared in the journal Minds, Brains and Programs in 1980. He discusses similar ideas in his address Is the Brain a Digital
Computer?. The same ideas are discussed in his 1992 book The Rediscovery of
the Mind.
6. The idea of emergence plays a central role in many contemporary debates
in science and philosophy. A good source for these ideas is the volume entitled
From Complexity to Life: On Emergence of Life and Meaning edited by Niels
Gregersen.
7. A similar approach to objectivism is discussed by the philosopher Donna
Haraway in her monograph Situated Knowledges. (See References). Haraway