TY - GEN ID - cogprints1586 UR - http://cogprints.org/1586/ A1 - Harnad, Stevan Y1 - 1993/// N2 - Harnad's main argument can be roughly summarised as follows: due to Searle's Chinese Room argument, symbol systems by themselves are insufficient to exhibit cognition, because the symbols are not grounded in the real world, hence without meaning. However, a symbol system that is connected to the real world through transducers receiving sensory data, with neural nets translating these data into sensory categories, would not be subject to the Chinese Room argument. Harnad's article is not only the starting point for the present debate, but is also a contribution to a longlasting discussion about such questions as: Can a computer think? If yes, would this be solely by virtue of its program? Is the Turing Test appropriate for deciding whether a computer thinks? KW - neural nets KW - symbol grounding KW - connectionism KW - symbolism KW - computationalism KW - Searle's Chinese Room KW - Turing Test KW - robotics TI - Grounding Symbols in the Analog World with Neural Nets SP - 12 AV - public EP - 78 ER -