Artificial Intelligence: Prinz, “Furnishing the Mind”

Directions:
– Paper is on chapters 1-6 in Prinz book, “Furnishing the mind”.
– Here is a link where most of chapters 1-6 can be viewed for free.(http://books.google.com/books/about/Furnishing_the_Mind.html?id=Gp5A85NQzJMC)
– If you need to buy the book, you can buy it as an eBook off of google for $17. I will obviously pay for the ebook.
– Please don’t use any information found outside of this book and the slides I have provided.
– Please include page numbers for quotes or paraphrasing that is done from the 6 chapters of the book.
– List of prompts are below: I have no preference to which prompt you choose.

These are suggested paper topics for your final 5-7 page paper. Each of the prompts asks you to think about Prinz’s view of concepts in greater depth. Are his critiques of other theories sound? Does his own theory meet the desiderata he sets? If answering the prompt fully requires you to have a look at some of the other sources he cites, please do so. If you know of other research that has bearing on the issues Prinz discusses, feel free to bring that to your paper as well. If you wish to write on some topic other than one I suggest here, talk to me about it.

The papers are to be approximately 5-7 pages long (1750-2450 words), double-spaced, with normal margins, and normal (12 point) font. Remember to adequately characterize the position you are addressing, and to give, argue for, and defend your own views. Email the paper in Word Perfect, Word, or RTF format.

1. Prinz discusses and critiques 6 theories of concepts. He defends a 7th theory. Are all of these theories attempting to do the same thing? If not, which is best described as a theory of concepts? Why?

2. Prinz identifies seven desiderata for a theory of concepts. Do these bear equal weight? Or should we find a theory that best meets one (or more) of the desiderata and not worry about the other desiderata? If so, which is that theory?

3. Prinz identifies seven desiderata for a theory of concepts. Does his theory (that concepts are “proxytypes”) adequately meet those desiderata? You may wish to pick one desideratum, read the chapter in which Prinz addresses that desideratum in particular, and then argue that Prinz is or is not successful.

4. If given the time and space that Prinz gives to his theory, could an adherent of one of the other theories (that Prinz critiques) adequately defend that theory against the critiques Prinz makes?

5. Is there a better theory of concepts than the ones that Prinz critiques and proposes?

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