Volume 34, Number 10 · June 11, 1987
Leviathan's Program
By Bernard Williams
The Society of Mind
by Marvin Minsky
Simon and Schuster, 339 pp., $19.95
Psychologists make models of the mind in order to explain what we say and do. Some particularly want to explain our abilities: how do we build a tower from toy blocks, or recognize a goldfinch? How do we manage to get across a room without hitting the furniture? Like many naive questions that lead to science, these do not have a meaning that is entirely fixed before people start to answer them. The questions seem, rather vaguely, in place when we reflect that we must learn to do these various things, that characteristic mistakes are made in trying to do them, and that our abilities to do them can be impaired through illness, injury, or age.
Review, 3893 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |