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Article 4648 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: onstott@a.cs.okstate.edu (ONSTOTT CHARLES OR)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy,sci.philosophy.tech
Subject: Re: Causes and Goals
Message-ID: <1992Mar21.221618.531@a.cs.okstate.edu>
Date: 21 Mar 92 22:16:18 GMT
References: <1992Mar18.044516.28882@nuscc.nus.sg> <1992Mar18.230046.22121@a.cs.okstate.edu> <1992Mar21.030527.15609@ccu.umanitoba.ca>
Organization: Oklahoma State University, Computer Science, Stillwater
Lines: 32

In article <1992Mar21.030527.15609@ccu.umanitoba.ca> zirdum@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Antun Zirdum) writes:
>In article <1992Mar18.230046.22121@a.cs.okstate.edu> onstott@a.cs.okstate.edu (ONSTOTT CHARLES OR) writes:
>>In article <1992Mar18.044516.28882@nuscc.nus.sg> smoliar@iss.nus.sg (stephen smoliar) writes:
>>>In article <1992Mar17.110436.9937@husc3.harvard.edu> zeleny@zariski.harvard.edu
>>notion of agency, is whether or not a cloud is capable of questioning or
>>attributing agency to the indians, or anyone in general, themselves.  IF you
>>would please give me an argument along these lines, I would appreciate it.
>>It seems that the necesary precondition for agency is its identification of
>>a patient.  Further, the necessary precondition for noetic agency is the
>>ability to question the ability for a thing to be an agent or a patient.
>>
>Hey, Hey - We finally see eye to eye on one thing, a virus
>cannot be an agent, while a computer - which is capable
>of identification of its patient. 8-]
>IS by your definition an agent!
>-- 
 A virus is capable of identifying a patient.  Therefore, a virus
is also an agent.  The problem still remains:  is a computer the
type of agent that can attribute meaning to something.

BCnya,
  Charles O. Onstott, III

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Charles O. Onstott, III                  P.O. Box 2386
Undergraduate in Philosophy              Stillwater, Ok  74076
Oklahoma State University                onstott@a.cs.okstate.edu

"The most abstract system of philosophy is, in its method and purpose, 
nothing more than an extremely ingenious combination of natural sounds."
                                              -- Carl G. Jung
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