Computing machines, body and mind: metaphorical origins of mechanistic computationalism
https://doi.org/10.17726/philIT.2023.1.1
Abstract
The article presents preliminary results of the conceptual analysis of the mechanistic profile of the computer metaphor. Mechanic reductionism is a special direction of computer metaphor rooted in various historical forms of word usage. Here we trace the stages of formation of the principles of transferring the properties of a mechanical computer to the properties of the human body and mind. We are also trying to identify the basic principles of semantic transfer, which have survived to this day in the discourse of modern computationalism. The reasons are analyzed due to which the metaphor «Human (body) is machine», traditional for the Modern Age, was transformed into a more complex version of «Mind is machine». What happened to the concepts of «mind» and «machine»? How have ideas about the properties of computational procedures changed? What keeps the counterintuitive computer metaphor viable today? The answers to this series of questions and theoretical ways of solving these problems are contained in this paper.
About the Author
P. N. Baryshnikov
Pyatigorsk State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Baryshnikov Pavel N., Doctor of science (in Philosophy), Assistant professor, Professor of the Department of Historical and Socio-Philosophical Disciplines, Oriental Studies and Theology
Pyatigorsk
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Review
For citations:
Baryshnikov P.N. Computing machines, body and mind: metaphorical origins of mechanistic computationalism. Philosophical Problems of IT & Cyberspace (PhilIT&C). 2023;(1):4-13. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17726/philIT.2023.1.1
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