What is a Physical Realization of a Computational System
Marco Giunti · UNICA IRIS Institutional Research Information System (University of Cagliari) · 2017
The concept of a physical realization of a computational system is one of the key notions of both functionalism and the symbolic approach to cognitive science or AI. Notwithstanding a widespread consensus on the theoretical importance of this concept, it comes somewhat as a surprise that a precise analysis or shared definition does not exist yet, either in the philosophical camp, or in the cognitive science and AI community. This paper develops an original approach to such an analysis.