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Philosophy / Unit 9   Philosophy 0372 review, 2 to 3 minutes

Minds, Machines, and the Test

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The idea

Whether a machine could have a mind, assembled from the unit's parts—and why the question ends where the problem of other minds begins.

In practice

What is being asked for. A mind, per the unit's opening: intentionality—states about things—and qualia, the felt qualities of experience. A machine mind means silicon states that are about the world and feel like something. Two requirements, and they come apart.

Where people slip

"Could a machine think?" and "does this machine think?" are different questions—the first is philosophy, the second is evidence, and confusing them flatters both.

Your place on the trail

Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.

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