Mechanistic Computational Individuation without Biting the Bullet

Abstract

Is the mathematical function being computed by a given physical system determined by the system’s dynamics? This question is at the heart of the indeterminacy of computation phenomenon (Fresco et al. [unpublished]). A paradigmatic example is a conventional electrical AND-gate that is often said to compute conjunction, but it can just as well be used to compute disjunction. Despite the pervasiveness of this phenomenon in physical computational systems, it has been discussed in the philosophical literature only indirectly, mostly with reference to the debate over realism about physical computation and computationalism. A welcome exception is Dewhurst’s ([2018]) recent analysis of computational individuation under the mechanistic framework. He rejects the idea of appealing to semantic properties for determining the computational identity of a physical system. But Dewhurst seems to be too quick to pay the price of giving up the notion of computational equivalence. We aim to show that the mechanist need not pay this price. The mechanistic framework can, in principle, preserve the idea of computational equivalence even between two different enough kinds of physical systems, say, electrical and hydraulic ones. 1Discussion2Conclusion

Long-arm functional individuation of computation

“…Dewhurst proposes to individuate computation on the basis of physical properties alone (2018). As a computational mechanist, he can specify the computational identity of a given system in virtue of three key ingredients (Fresco & Miłkowski, 2019). The first ingredient is digits: what are the unique digits processed by the system and how many are there?…”

The determinacy of computation

“…The problem is that it entails that systems which differ even a little in respect of their intrinsic physical features are computationally distinct. While Dewhurst is upfront that this is a cost (2018b, 110-1), it is far from clear that the price is worth paying (Fresco and Milkowski 2021;Shagrir 2020).…”

“…2 So-called by Fresco and Milkowski (2021). Known also as 'the multiplicity of computations' (Piccinini 2008(Piccinini , 2015Coelho Mollo 2018;Lee 2021), and 'the problem of simultaneous implementation' (Shagrir 2001(Shagrir , 2020Dewhurst 2018bDewhurst , 2018a.…”

Integrating Philosophy of Understanding With the Cognitive Sciences

“…A computation involves the processing of input information according to a series of specified operations that results in output information. While many computational explanations describe the object of computation as having representational content, some challenge this as a universal constraint on computational explanations ( Piccinini, 2015 ; Dewhurst, 2018 ; Fresco and Miłkowski, 2021 ). We will use “information” broadly, such that we remain silent on this issue.…”