Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!maytag!watdragon!violet!cpshelley
From: cpshelley@violet.uwaterloo.ca (cameron shelley)
Subject: Re: Consciousness
Message-ID: <1990Nov10.015731.6722@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
Sender: daemon@watdragon.waterloo.edu (Owner of Many System Processes)
Organization: University of Waterloo
References: <10126@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> <1990Oct27.070636.4144@wam.umd.edu> <5891@suned1.Nswses.Navy.MIL> <1990Nov9.180404.8915@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu> <1990Nov9.202525.11717@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu>
Date: Sat, 10 Nov 90 01:57:31 GMT
Lines: 26

In article <1990Nov9.202525.11717@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu> fostel@eos.ncsu.edu (Gary Fostel) writes:
>
> 
>  I looked up Kuhn's "definition" of science, wondering if cog. sci, 
>  AI or related subjects would fit.  Kuhn is also a post World War II
>  philosopher of science, and his definition (beginning of chapter 2 in 
>  "Structure of Scientific ..." is delightfully recursive.  I don't have it
>  here at hand, but paraphrasing it (hopefully accurately) he say that 
>  science is that research activity that follows or builds upon previous
>  scientific achievements. (!)
>
>  By this sort of definition, a great many things can get bootstrapped up
>  as a "science" and then stay a science by satisfying only a very weak
>  membership test later on.  This is actually a fairly good match to the
>  modern usage of the term "science", but it is descriptive, not proscriptive.
>  In that book he is clearly describing how things are rather than how they
>  ought to be.  
>
	And like any old boy's club, it is a hard one to join if you're
new in town! :>

--
      Cameron Shelley        | "Logic, n.  The art of thinking and reasoning
cpshelley@violet.waterloo.edu|  in strict accordance with the limitations and
    Davis Centre Rm 2136     |  incapacities of the human misunderstanding..."
 Phone (519) 885-1211 x3390  |				Ambrose Bierce