Computation and the Mind

Abstract

This chapter addresses the vexed question of whether mentation is computation. To get there, it expands on the ontological framework used in previous parts of this book. It introduces two types of natural property: physical qualities and causal powers. It introduces levels of composition and realization. It introduces mechanisms and the notions of multiple realizability and medium independence. It points out that physical computation is a medium-independent notion. It introduces living organisms and the teleological functions possessed by organismic traits and artifacts. Finally, it argues that cognition is largely a matter of computation but phenomenal consciousness most likely involves physical qualities, which are aspects of physical reality that are not reducible to computation.