Searle’s Misunderstandings of Functionalism and Strong AI
Georges Rey · 2002
Abstract I want to expand here on some objections I’ve made elsewhere (Rey 1986, 1990, 1997) to arguments that John Searle (1980a,b/91, 1984, 1990a, 1992) has raised against computational theories of mind. For reasons of space, I will confine my remarks to issues surrounding intelligence and intentionality, and not take on the (to my mind) much more special issues surrounding qualia and consciousness that Searle also sometimes raises.1 I will presume the reader is familiar with Searle’s (1980a) statement of the example of the man in a room, who, ignorant of Chinese, is responding to Chinese sentences with appropriate Chinese responses by following a computer program for Chinese conversation.