Gualtiero Piccinini
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Washington University, St. Louis, MO

"Computing Mechanisms"

Abstract: I offer an account of computing mechanisms based on functional analysis. By functional analysis of a mechanism, I mean a partition of a mechanism into component parts and an assignment of functions to those parts. The present account analyzes calculators and computers in terms of their component parts (processor, memory, input and output devices) and their functions. Those components are also analyzed in terms of their component parts (registers and circuits) and their functions. Those, in turn, are analyzed in terms of primitive computing components (logic gates) and their functions. Primitive computing components can be further analyzed but their analysis does not illuminate the notion of computing mechanism. The present account fits very naturally both our ordinary language about computing mechanisms and the language and practices of computer designers. It does so by satisfying six desiderata better than the competition: (1) paradigmatic computing mechanisms (e.g., computers) compute; (2) paradigmatic non-computing mechanisms (e.g., planetary systems) don't compute; (3) computation is observer-independent; (4) computations can go wrong; (5) some computing mechanisms are not computers, and (6) program execution is explanatory. This makes the present account ideal for grounding discussions of computational theories of mind and brain.