Patrice Terrier (1998) Why is the Question of Content Still Open? . Psycoloquy: 9(58) Representation Mediation (4)
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Psycoloquy 9(58): Why is the Question of Content Still Open?

WHY IS THE QUESTION OF CONTENT STILL OPEN?
Commentary on Markman-Dietrich on Representation-Mediation.

Patrice Terrier
Department of Psychology,
University of Toulouse II,
5 all. A. Machado,
31058 Toulouse,
France

terrier@univ-tlse2.fr

Abstract

There appears to be an inconsistency in Markman & Dietrich (1998, paras. 67 vs 68): If there is nothing more to being a representation than being a state that mediates between mental contents, why is content still characterized as an open question? A process by which mental contents are related has no need for mental content over and above the terms it relates.

Keywords

compositionality, computation, connectionism, discrete states, dynamic Systems, explanation, information, meaning, mediating states, representation, rules, semantic Content symbols

References