From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!trwacs!erwin Tue Mar 24 09:56:47 EST 1992
Article 4550 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: erwin@trwacs.fp.trw.com (Harry Erwin)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy,sci.philosophy.tech
Subject: Re: Causes and Goals (was re: The Systems Reply I
Message-ID: <515@trwacs.fp.trw.com>
Date: 18 Mar 92 12:34:35 GMT
References: <1992Mar15.170938.9882@husc3.harvard.edu> <1992Mar16.005137.13005@a.cs.okstate.edu> <1992Mar16.003442.9891@husc3.harvard.edu> <1992Mar16.224536.2719@neptune.inf.ethz.ch>
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santas@inf.ethz.ch (Philip Santas) writes:

>In article <1992Mar16.003442.9891@husc3.harvard.edu> zeleny@zariski.harvard.edu (Mikhail Zeleny) writes:
>>...

>I am wondering why, according to your definitions, a rain cloud does not
>communicate rain.

>>somatic}, sufficient for volition, but not for intention, and hence
>>bereft of non-natural, semantic meaning; in other words, the
>>communication effected by it is natural, rather than expressive.  Thus
>>the necessary condition for an occurrence of expressive meaning is
>>intentional action, which depends on {\it noetic} agency.

>What causes the intentionality?

>Philip Santas

I am reminded of a certain species of monkey that raises it's tail when it
is nervous. This is an automatic reaction, to the extent that individuals
have been observed holding their tail down when they didn't want to be
seen as being nervous, yet this also communicates expressive meaning.
Non-intentionality communicating expressive meaning...

Cheers,

-- 
Harry Erwin
Internet: erwin@trwacs.fp.trw.com



