An Asymmetric Relationship: The Spirit of Kenneth Craik and the Work of Warren McCulloch

Abstract

Warren McCulloch held Kenneth Craik's work in high regard. What was the source of this high regard and did this good opinion mean that Craik's work had any effect on McCulloch's own work? Aspects of Craik and McCulloch's backgrounds are examined to help explain McCulloch's views: the important place of philosophy in their education and some shared philosophical positions, their attraction to work in diverse disciplines, a respect for the science of physiology, an acceptance that mind was a legitimate object of enquiry, the demands and opportunities of military and wartime research, and a shared sense of creating a new approach to inquiries into human abilities. Two aspects of Craik's theory about the nature of thought were also key: his claim that modelling was central to thought and the fact that those views complemented McCulloch's own. Finally, McCulloch helped to contribute to Craik's reputation and in doing so helped to create a founding father for cybernetics to be set alongside the likes of Ashby, Wiener and McCulloch himself.

The reputation of Kenneth James William Craik.

“…His solution was to confront those aspects of philosophy he saw as most relevant to his interests, argue through his position on them, and then move on to what were for him more interesting and satisfying domains of inquiry. Thus, The Nature of Explanation is in large part a philosophical work and philosophy was far more important in Craik’s career than is often noted (Collins, in press). His book was an attempt to set out his finalized views.…”

Warren McCulloch and the British Cyberneticians

“…McCulloch's own vision of an ‘experimental epistemology’, also arrived at from a dissatisfaction with the philosophical study of the mind (McCulloch 1965, 1974), and the lack of engagement with underlying neural mechanisms in mainstream psychology and psychiatry, resonated strongly with Craik's views. Hence Craik's little book became an important source of inspiration for McCulloch and he viewed it as one of the foundation stones of cybernetics [see Collins's paper in this issue for an extensive discussion of Craik's influence on McCulloch (Collins 2012)].…”