From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.ecf!utgpu!cs.utexas.edu!wupost!spool.mu.edu!uunet!mcsun!uknet!edcastle!cam Tue Nov 26 12:31:21 EST 1991
Article 1483 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: cam@castle.ed.ac.uk (Chris Malcolm)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books,sci.philosophy.tech,comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Daniel Dennett (was Re: Commenting on the pos
Message-ID: <15110@castle.ed.ac.uk>
Date: 21 Nov 91 23:00:52 GMT
Article-I.D.: castle.15110
References: <1991Nov19.101612.5603@husc3.harvard.edu> <1991Nov20.044837.15035@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au> <1991Nov21.125348.5719@husc3.harvard.edu>
Organization: Edinburgh University
Lines: 40

In article <1991Nov21.125348.5719@husc3.harvard.edu> zeleny@zariski.harvard.edu (Mikhail Zeleny) writes:
>In article <1991Nov20.044837.15035@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au> 
>john@publications.ccc.monash.edu.au (John Wilkins) writes:

>>In article <1991Nov19.101612.5603@husc3.harvard.edu>, 
>>zeleny@zariski.harvard.edu (Mikhail Zeleny) writes:

MZ:
>>> Would you buy an artificial intelligence, 
>>> or any other form of technology, from a follower of Heidegger?

JW:
>>Jesus, Misha, you would if they were competent technologists.

>I'll answer for myself, noting that
>technological competence seems to be at odds with Heideggerian loyalties.

Yet there are fans of Heidegger who have produced very interesting
technological devices, both in the sense of purchasable machinery, and
software. Who can say whether their efforts might have been even more
interesting had they not been fans of Heidegger? Nevertheless, they
seem convinced, however foolishly, that Heidegger has contributed to
the success of their artefacts. Who are these people? Well, I don't
want to get involved in discussing individuals, but some of them have
lived and published only a stroll away from Mikhail's office (assuming
that he works in Harvard).

For myself, I have always found Heidegger's account of how one's
relationship to and manner of thinking about a device changes, as the
device ceases to work properly, to fit very interestingly with my
experience of mending complex broken devices. By "interestingly" I
mean that reading Heidegger gives me ideas about to how to contruct an
articifial machine capable of diagnosing and repairing broken
machinery. It is also true that most of my colleagues find Heidegger
impenetrable or irrelevant, so I refrain from making a general
recommendation.
-- 
Chris Malcolm    cam@uk.ac.ed.aifh          +44 (0)31 650 3085
Department of Artificial Intelligence,    Edinburgh University
5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, UK                DoD #205


