Document Type

Article

Keywords

Gualtiero Piccinini, Philosophy, Journal Article

Abstract

This paper offers an account of what it is for a physical system to be a computing mechanism—a system that performs computations. A computing mechanism is a mechanism whose function is to generate output strings from input strings and (possibly) internal states, in accordance with a general rule that applies to all relevant strings and depends on the input strings and (possibly) internal states for its application. This account is motivated by reasons endogenous to the philosophy of computing, namely, doing justice to the practices of computer scientists and computability theorists. It is also an application of recent literature on mechanisms, because it assimilates computational explanation to mechanistic explanation. The account can be used to individuate computing mechanisms and the functions they compute and to taxonomize computing mechanisms based on their computing power.

Publication Date

10-1-2007

Publication Title

Philosophy of Science

ISSN

0031-8248

Volume

74

Issue

4

First Page

501

Last Page

526

DOI

10.1086/522851

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