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Mechanics and Mental Change

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Evolution of Semantic Systems

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Abstract

Realistic human rationality departs from ideal theories of rationality and meaning developed in epistemology and economics because in human life deliberation takes time and effort, ignorance and inconsistency do not deter action, and learning takes time and slows with time. This paper examines some theories of mental change with an eye to assessing their adequacy for characterizing realistic limits on change and uses a simple kind of reasoning system from artificial intelligence to illustrate how mechanical concepts, including mental inertia, force, work, and constitutional elasticity, provide a new language and formal framework for analyzing and specifying limits on cognitive systems.

In memoriam

Joseph Arthur Schatz, 1924–2007

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Jon Doyle

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  1. Jon Doyle
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Correspondence to Jon Doyle .

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  1. , Frege Centre for Structural Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Zwätzengasse 9, Jena, 07743, Germany

    Bernd-Olaf Küppers

  2. Jena University Language & Information E, Frege Centre for Structural Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Fürstengraben 30, Jena, 07743, Germany

    Udo Hahn

  3. , Frege Centre for Structural Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Zwätzengasse 4, Jena, 07743, Germany

    Stefan Artmann

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Doyle, J. (2013). Mechanics and Mental Change. In: Küppers, BO., Hahn, U., Artmann, S. (eds) Evolution of Semantic Systems. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34997-3_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34997-3_7

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