The Mind's I

by Hofstadter, Douglas R; Dennett, Daniel C.

• ISBN13: 9780465030910
• ISBN10: 0465030912
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-01-17
• Publisher: Hachette Book Group USA

Summary

With contributions from Jorge Luis Borges, Richard Dawkins, John Searle, and Robert Nozick, The Mind's I explores the meaning of self and consciousness through the perspectives of literature, artificial intelligence, psychology, and other disciplines. In selections that range from fiction to scientific speculations about thinking machines, artificial intelligence, and the nature of the brain, Hofstadter and Dennett present a variety of conflicting visions of the self and the soul as explored through the writings of some of the twentieth century's most renowned thinkers.

Author Biography

Douglas R. Hofstadter is College Professor of Cognitive Science and Computer Science at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. His previous books are the Pulitzer Prizewinning Gödel, Escher, Bach; Metamagical Themas, The Mind’s I, Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies, Le Ton Beau de Marot, and Eugene Onegin. Daniel C. Dennett is Distinguished Arts and Sciences Professor, Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	3	(16)
I. A Sense of Self
Borges and I	19	(4)
Jorge Luis Borges
Reflections	20	(3)
On Having No Head	23	(11)
D. E. Harding
Reflections	30	(4)
Rediscovering the Mind	34	(19)
Harold J. Morowitz
Reflections	42	(11)
II. Soul Searching
Computing Machinery and Intelligence	53	(16)
A. M. Turing
Reflections	67	(2)
The Turing Test: A Coffeehouse Conversation	69	(27)
Douglas R. Hofstadter
Reflections	92	(4)
The Princess Ineffabelle	96	(4)
Stanislaw Lem
Reflections	99	(1)
The Soul of Martha, a Beast	100	(9)
Terrel Miedaner
Reflections	106	(3)
The Soul of the Mark III Beast	109	(10)
Terrel Miedaner
Reflections	113	(6)
Spirit	119	(5)
Allen Wheelis
Reflections	122	(2)
Selfish Genes and Selfish Memes	124	(25)
Richard Dawkins
Reflections	144	(5)
Prelude. . . Ant Fugue	149	(53)
Douglas R. Hofstadter
Reflections	191	(11)
The Story of a Brain	202	(15)
Arnold Zuboff
Reflections	212	(5)
IV. Mind as Program
Where Am I?	217	(15)
Daniel C. Dennett
Reflections	230	(2)
Where Was I?	232	(10)
David Hawley Sanford
Reflections	240	(2)
Beyond Rejection	242	(11)
Justin Leiber
Reflections	252	(1)
Software	253	(16)
Rudy Rucker
Reflections	265	(4)
The Riddle of the Universe and Its Solution	269	(18)
Christopher Cherniak
Reflections	276	(11)
V. Created Selves and Free Will
The Seventh Sally or How Trurl's Own Perfection Led to No Good	287	(9)
Stanislaw Lem
Reflections	294	(2)
Non Serviam	296	(25)
Stanislaw Lem
Reflections	317	(4)
Is God a Taoist?	321	(23)
Raymond M. Smullyan
Reflections	341	(3)
The Circular Ruins	344	(9)
Jorge Luis Borges
Reflections	348	(5)
Minds, Brains, and Programs	353	(30)
John R. Searle
Reflections	373	(10)
An Unfortunate Dualist	383	(8)
Raymond M. Smullyan
Reflections	384	(7)
VI. The Inner Eye
What Is It Like to Be a Bat?	391	(24)
Thomas Nagel
Reflections	403	(12)
An Epistemological Nightmare	415	(15)
Raymond M. Smullyan
Reflections	427	(3)
A Conversation with Einstein's Brain	430	(31)
Douglas R. Hofstadter
Reflections	457	(4)
Fiction	461	(4)
Robert Nozick
Further Reading	465	(18)
Acknowledgments	483	(1)
Index	484