?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Actual+Possibilities&rft.creator=Sloman%2C+A.&rft.subject=Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Artificial+Intelligence&rft.subject=Machine+Vision&rft.subject=Robotics&rft.subject=Developmental+Psychology&rft.subject=Semantics&rft.subject=Epistemology&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Language&rft.subject=Logic&rft.subject=Metaphysics&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Mind&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Science&rft.description=This+is+a+philosophical+%60position+paper'%2C+starting+from+the+observation+that+we+have+an+intuitive+grasp+of+a+family+of+related+concepts+of+%60%60possibility''%2C+%60%60causation''+and+%60%60constraint''+which+we+often+use+in+thinking+about+complex+mechanisms%2C+and+perhaps+also+in+perceptual+processes%2C+which+according+to+Gibson+are+primarily+concerned+with+detecting+positive+and+negative+affordances%2C+such+as+support%2C+obstruction%2C+graspability%2C+etc.+We+are+able+to+talk+about%2C+think+about%2C+and+perceive+possibilities%2C+such+as+possible+shapes%2C+possible+pressures%2C+possible+motions%2C+and+also+risks%2C+opportunities+and+dangers.+We+can+also+think+about+constraints+linking+such+possibilities.+If+such+abilities+are+useful+to+us+(and+perhaps+other+animals)+they+may+be+equally+useful+to+intelligent+artefacts.+All+this+bears+on+a+collection+of+different+more+technical+topics%2C+including+modal+logic%2C+constraint+analysis%2C+qualitative+reasoning%2C+naive+physics%2C+the+analysis+of+functionality%2C+and+the+modelling+design+processes.+The+paper+suggests+that+our+ability+to+use+knowledge+about+%60%60de-re''+modality+is+more+primitive+than+the+ability+to+use+%60%60de-dicto''+modalities%2C+in+which+modal+operators+are+applied+to+sentences.+The+paper+explores+these+ideas%2C+links+them+to+notions+of+%60%60causation''+and+%60%60machine''%2C+suggests+that+they+are+applicable+to+virtual+or+abstract+machines+as+well+as+physical+machines.+Some+conclusions+are+drawn+regarding+the+nature+of+mind+and+consciousness.&rft.publisher=Morgan+Kaufmann&rft.contributor=Aiello%2C+L.+C.&rft.contributor=Shapiro%2C+S.+C.&rft.date=1996&rft.type=Conference+Paper&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpostscript&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F718%2F2%2FSloman.actual.possibilities.ps&rft.identifier=++Sloman%2C+A.++(1996)+Actual+Possibilities.++%5BConference+Paper%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F718%2F