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Article 7348 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: lcarr@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (lincoln carr)
Subject: Re: Simulated Brain
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References: <1992Oct13.085347.13831@klaava.Helsinki.FI> <g87wsB1w165w@CODEWKS.nacjack.gen.nz> <1992Oct19.133435.18702@klaava.Helsinki.FI>
Date: Wed, 21 Oct 1992 06:34:14 GMT
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In article <1992Oct19.133435.18702@klaava.Helsinki.FI> amnell@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Marko Amnell) writes:

>I don't know how many participants in the discussion would agree with
>me, but any workable definition of consciousness would have to go beyond
>mere cognition -- the capacity for thought, something like purposeful
>use of information to achieve results (to just give a sketch) -- and
>include sensory awareness of one's environment, self-awareness of
>oneself as a thinking being, a history of interaction with similar
>beings (something repeatedly stressed by Davidson in his criticism of
>the Turing Test) and hence membership in a community of thinkers.
>All this is not meant to be a real definition, but just something to
>start the ball rolling, if anyone would care to push it further.

Why would consciousness need to be this broad?  For example, if all of
my external senses were destroyed and all that I could do is
apperceive, I would still be conscious.  Also, if I were abandoned on
a desert island with no interaction with other sentient life from
birth and survived somehow, I would still be conscious.  So, the only
part of your definition with with I agree and the only part that I
think is necessary to define consciousness is self-awareness of
oneself as a thinking being.

-- 
Lincoln R. Carr, Computer Scientist-Philosopher    lcarr@silver.ucs.indiana.edu
"Treat all rational autonomous moral agents, whether in the form of yourself
or another, never as means solely, but always as ends in themselves."
                  Immanuel Kant, from "Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals"


