Additions to the Bibliography on Mind and Consciousness
compiled by Piero Scaruffi
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Nagel Thomas: THE FINAL WORD (Oxford Univ Press, 1998)Nagel Thomas: MORTAL QUESTIONS (Cambridge Univ Press, 1979)Nagel Thomas: "Mind and Cosmos" (Oxford Univ Press, 2012)Nagel Thomas: THE VIEW FROM NOWHERE (Oxford Univ Press, 1986)Neal Stephen: DESCRIPTIONS (MIT Press, 1990)Neisser Ulric: COGNITION AND REALITY (Freeman, 1975)Neisser Ulric: CONCEPTS AND CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT (Cambridge University Press, 1987)Neisser Ulric: CONCEPTS RECONSIDERED (Cambridge Univ Press, 1994)Neisser Ulric: THE REMEMBERING SELF (Cambridge University Press, 1994)Jerome Bruner believes in a multiplicity of narratives. There is not a single, static remembered self. What we remember is influenced by social and cultural factors. Self-narratives don't even depend so much on memory as on thinking. "Self is a perpetually rewritten story". Neisser Ulric: THE PERCEIVED SELF (Cambridge Univ Press, 1994)Nelson Katherine: LANGUAGE IN COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT (Cambridge University Press, 1996)Nelson Raymond: LOGIC OF MIND (Kluwer Academics, 1989)Nerve networks, grammars and cognitive systems are all reduced to automata (systems of computational rules). Nelson defends the view that computers and minds are the same type of automaton, especially against the misapplication of Godel's theorem. A theory of belief and action is also developed using abstract Turing machines and automata models. Reference derives from intentionality, and intentions can be reduced to ways of computing (based on the idea of partial recursive functions). The intentional features of the mind can therefore be explained in mathematical terms. Nelson builds a "logic of acceptance" to deal with perception: a stimulus pattern is perceived if it is accepted by the perceiver as a given type, and this process depends on the perceiver's expections (i.e., perceptual belief is fullfilled expectation). Desire is then defined in terms of belief and action. Both belief and desire are therefore reduced to mathematical quantities, and ultimately to automata computation. A theory of truth for a language corresponding to perceptual belief and a theory of meaning (based on recursive functions) are worked out. Nesse Randolph and Williams George: WHY WE GET SICK (Times Books, 1994)Neumann, Erich: THE ORIGINS AND HISTORY OF CONSCIOUSNESS (Princeton Univ Press, 1954)Newell Allen & Simon Herb: HUMAN PROBLEM SOLVING (Prentice-Hall, 1972)By conducting experiments, the authors concluded that problem solving involves a mental search through a problem space of possible solutions in which each step is guided by rules of thumb, or heuristics. A problem space consists of a set of knowledge states, a set of operators on knowledge states, the initial state, the desired final state. Problem solving takes place by search in the problem space until the desired knowledge state is achieved. Knowledge about the environment is fundamental in order to guarantee a highly selective search through the problem space. As an example, the Logic Theorist is a heuristics-based problem solver whose task is to find proofs for theorems in the propositional calculus. The General Problem Solver is an even more ambitious program. The cognitive model is one in which human intelligence is due to a set of production rules controlling behavior and to internal information processing. Both the mind and the computer are physical-symbol systems. Newell Allen & Rosenbloom Paul: THE SOAR PAPERS (MIT Press, 1993)The universal weak method is an organizational framework whereby knowledge determines the weak methods employed to solve the problem, i.e. knowledge controls the behavior of the rational agent. Universal subgoaling is a scheme whereby goals can be created automatically to deal with the difficulties that the rational agent encounters during problem solving. The engine of the architecture is driven by production rules that fire in parallel and represent task-dependent knowledge. The architecture maintains a context which is made of four slots: goal, problem space, state and operator. A fixed set of production rules determines which objects have to become current, i.e. fill those slots. In other words, they determine the strategic choices to be made after each round of parallel processing. Nicolelis, Miguel: "Beyond Boundaries" (Henry Holt, 2011)Newell Allen: UNIFIED THEORIES OF COGNITION (Harvard Univ Press, 1990)Nicolis Gregoire & Prigogine Ilya: SELF-ORGANIZATION IN NONEQUILIBRIUM SYSTEMS (Wiley, 1977)The book introduces nonequilibrium thermodynamics, which leads to bifurcation theory and to the stochastic approach to fluctuations. Under special circumstances the distance from equilibrium and the nonlinearity of a system become sources of order, driving the system to ordered configurations (or "dissipative structures"). In dissipative structures nonequilibrium becomes a source of order. The multiplicity of solutions in nonlinear systems can be interpreted as a process of gradual "emancipation" from the environment. A stunning number and variety of fields of application, from chemistry to sociology. In this framework the most difficult problems of biology, from morphogenesis to evolution, find a natural model. A thermodynamics of evolution and even equations for ecosystems are proposed. Nicolis Gregoire & Prigogine Ilya: EXPLORING COMPLEXITY (W.H.Freeman, 1989)Nicolis Gregoire: INTRODUCTION TO NONLINEAR SCIENCE (Cambridge University Press, 1995)Nilsson Nils: THE MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING MACHINES (Morgan Kaufmann, 1990)Nilsson Nils: PRINCIPLES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (Tioga, 1980)Noe, Alva: ACTION IN PERCEPTION (MIT Press 2004)Norretranders Tor: THE USER ILLUSION (Viking, 1998)Norvig, Peter & Russell, Stuart "Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach" (2009)Norwich Kenneth: INFORMATION SENSATION AND PERCEPTION (Academic Press, 1993)Nunberg Geoffrey: THE PRAGMATICS OF REFERENCE (Indiana Univ Linguistic Club, 1978)Four principles determine which functions a listener is going to employ to derive the most appropriate referent. A term is used in a "normal" way when it is consistent with the conventions of the linguistic community. A metaphor is a discourse in which the speaker a) employs an expression E to refer to F in context C even if there exists another expression to refer to F which the speaker knows it is easier to understand; b) knows that employing E is not rational but expects the listener to realize this and that he is aware of it; c) acts according to a cooperative principle and expects the listener to be aware of it. Metaphors are not an exclusive of poets. Quite the opposit: people who are not very fluent in the language tend to use metaphors more often. Nunez, Paul: "Brain, Mind, and the Structure of Reality" (Oxford Univ Press, 2010) |
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