Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!rex!ames!pacbell!att!cbnewsm!ele From: ele@cbnewsm.ATT.COM (eugene.l.edmon) Newsgroups: comp.ai Subject: Fundamental question about Searle Summary: Does Searle equate mental contents with semantics? Message-ID: <8325@cbnewsm.ATT.COM> Date: 7 Jan 90 03:16:40 GMT References: Reply-To: ele@cbnewsm.ATT.COM (eugene.l.edmon,lc,) Distribution: usa Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 12 The current Sci Amer article by Searle is my first exposure to him. It appears that in Axiom 2 he equates mental contents with semantics such that you cannot have a machine with any semantic capability that did not have a mind. Is this a correct interpretation? It seems to me that you can have mental contents without semantics and can demonstrate at least some semantic processing without mental contents (subliminal perception type stuff). -- gene edmon ele@cbnewsm.ATT.COM