8 quotes
I will argue that in the literal sense the programmed computer understands what the car and the adding machine understand, namely, exactly nothing.
Minds, Brains and Programs (1980)
In many cases it is a matter for decision and not a simple matter of fact whether x understands y; and so on.
Minds, Brains and Programs (1980)
The sense in which an automatic door "understands instructions" from its photoelectric cell is not at all the sense in which I understand English.
Minds, Brains and Programs (1980)
I want to block some common misunderstandings about "understanding": In many of these discussions one finds a lot of fancy footwork about the word "understanding."
Minds, Brains and Programs (1980)
My car and my adding machine understand nothing: they are not in that line of business.
Minds, Brains and Programs (1980)
We often attribute "understanding" and other cognitive predicates by metaphor and analogy to cars, adding machines, and other artifacts, but nothing is proved by such attributions.
Minds, Brains and Programs (1980)
There are clear cases in which "understanding" literally applies and clear cases in which it does not apply; and these two sorts of cases are all I need for this argument.
Minds, Brains and Programs (1980)
Our tools are extensions of our purposes, and so we find it natural to make metaphorical attributions of intentionality to them; but I take it no philosophical ice is cut by such examples.
Minds, Brains and Programs (1980)