000			a
999			_c30566 _d30566
008			220321b xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9780197552384
082			_a006 _bSHA
100			_aShagrir, Oron
245			_aNature of physical computation
260			_bOxford University Press, _c2022 _aNew York :
300			_a312 p. ; _bill., _c25 cm
365			_b99.00 _cUSD _d78.80
490			_aOxford studies in philosophy of science
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
520			_aComputing systems are everywhere today. Even the brain is thought to be a sort of computing system. But what does it mean to say that a given organ or system computes? What is it about laptops, smartphones, and nervous systems that they are deemed to compute, and why does it seldom occur to us to describe stomachs, hurricanes, rocks, or chairs that way? The book provides an extended argument for the semantic view of computation, which states that semantic properties are involved in the nature of computing systems. Laptops, smartphones, and nervous systems compute because they are accompanied by representations. Stomachs, hurricanes, and rocks, for instance, which do not have semantic properties, do not compute. The first part of the book argues that the linkage between the mathematical theory of computability and the notion of physical computation is weak. Theoretical notions such as algorithms, effective procedure, program, and automaton play only a minor role in identifying physical computation. The second part of the book reviews three influential accounts of physical computation and argues that while none of these accounts is satisfactory, each of them highlights certain key features of physical computation. The final part of the book develops and argues for a semantic account of physical computation and offers a characterization of computational explanations.
650			_aComputer science
650			_aPhilosophy
650			_aSemantic computing
650			_aComputers, Philosophy
650			_aCharacterization
650			_a Cognitive
650			_aCopeland
650			_aModeling
650			_a Notion objective
650			_aPhysical system
650			_aPiccinini
650			_a Step structure
650			_aTurning machine
942			_2ddc _cBK