'Is it possible for a machine to think?' ... the trouble which is expressed in this question is not really that we don't yet know a machine which could do the job. The question is not analogous to that which someone might have asked a hundred years ago: 'Can a machine liquify gas?' The trouble is rather that the sentence, 'A machine thinks (perceives, wishes)' seems somehow nonsensical. It is as though we had asked 'Has the number 3 a colour?' (BB 47) statement? No. We only say of a human being and what is like one that it thinks. We also say it of dolls and no doubt of spirits too. Look at the word 'to think' as a tool. (PI §360) Regards and thanks. Dr. Sean Wilson, Esq. [spoiler]Assistant Professor Wright State University Personal Website: http://seanwilson.org SSRN papers: http://tinyurl.com/3eatnrx Wittgenstein Discussion: http://seanwilson.org/wiki/doku.php?id=wittrs [/spoiler]
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