http://cogprints.org/706/
Musings on the roles of logical and non-logical representations in intelligence
This paper offers a short and biased overview of the history of discussion and controversy about the role of different forms of representation in intelligent agents. It repeats and extends some of the criticisms of the `logicist' approach to AI that I first made in 1971, while also defending logic for its power and generality. It identifies some common confusions regarding the role of visual or diagrammatic reasoning including confusions based on the fact that different forms of representation may be used at different levels in an implementation hierarchy. This is contrasted with the way in the use of one form of representation (e.g. pictures) can be {\em controlled} using another (e.g. logic, or programs). Finally some questions are asked about the role of metrical information in biological visual systems.
Sloman, Aaron
Cognitive Psychology
Artificial Intelligence
Neural Nets
Pragmatics
Semantics
Syntax
Epistemology
Philosophy of Language
Logic
Metaphysics
Philosophy of Mind
Philosophy of Science
Aaron
Sloman