哲学与认知科学

哲学与认知科学 (美) 南希·纳西希安 世界认知科学学会会长，美国佐治亚理工大学认知科学教授 认知科学在哲学中源远流长。它是一个多学科、跨学科领域，由心理学、哲学、计算机科学（人工智能，机器人学，人本的计算）、语言学、神经科学、人类学，以及社会学的研究人员和学者组成。虽然哲学只是其中的一个领域，但各门认知科学长期以来通过经验研究而谈及认识论和本体论问题，譬如知识以及人类意识经验的本质和起源，而且在这个过程中改变了这些问题的表述方式。然而，经验研究本身还不可能足以提出并发展成为全面综合的认知理论，重大的概念问题和方法论问题赋予哲学在认知研究中持续的中心地位。与此同时，认知科学也正在改变着哲学，特别是认识论、科学哲学和心智哲学等领域。哲学家们日益清楚地认识到，哲学问题的分析需要了解、利用并受制于来源于认知科学的各种材料和解释。 心智基础、认知科学基础和科学哲学是哲学之中从事认知科学研究的主要领域。所有这些哲学领域在本书里面都得到了很好的体现。其中，心智基础的研究涉及与心理表达的本质、心理过程、意向性和意识等有关的基础性的认识论问题和形上学问题；认知科学基础处理作为整体的认知科学的研究或者它的某个分支学科的研究的概念问题和方法论问题，这些问题范围宽广，从神经科学的实验方法论直至认知发展的“心智理论”机制假设；科学哲学中的认知科学研究是飞速发展着的领域，这个领域根据认知科学其他领域的显著经验研究和解释来探讨一些长期存在的难题，如相对于证据的理论不充分决定，概念变化的实质和过程，科学推理的本质等等问题。这个科学哲学领域的许多研究运用了“认知－历史的”方法，因而同时利用了以往惯用的历史资料和关于当代科学的研究成果，以清楚把握科学家的表达实践、方法论实践和推理实践的本质和起源。因此，真正的实践，而不是这些实践的先验规定，是科学哲学的各种认知学说所关注的焦点。全部哲学领域中的认知科学研究不仅促进哲学分析向前发展，也丰富了认知的基础理解。 Preface: Philosophy and Cognitive Science Cognitive science has deep roots in philosophy. As an interdisciplinary field, cognitive science comprises researchers from psychology, philosophy, computer science (artificial intelligence, robotics, human-centered computing), linguistics, neuroscience, anthropology, and sociology. Although philosophy is but one of its fields, the sciences of cognition address problems with a long history in epistemology and metaphysics, such as the nature and origins of knowledge and of human conscious experience, through empirical research, and, in the process, transform the ways in which the problems are formulated. Empirical research alone, however, cannot suffice to develop comprehensive theories of cognition. Substantive conceptual and methodological issues ensure the continued centrality of philosophy to the study of cognition. Cognitive science is also transforming philosophy, especially in the areas of epistemology, philosophy of science, and philosophy of mind. Increasingly, philosophers are recognizing the need to inform and constrain their analyses of philosophical problems with data and interpretations stemming from cognitive science. The primary areas of cognitive science research within philosophy are foundations of mind, foundations of cognitive science, and philosophy of science. All of these areas of philosophical research are well-represented in this book. Research within foundations of mind addresses fundamental epistemological and metaphysical problems having to do with, among other things, the nature of mental representation, mental processes, intentionality, and consciousness. Foundations of cognitive science deals with conceptual and methodological issues pertaining to research in cognitive science as a whole, or to research in a sub-discipline. These issues range from experimental methodologies in neuroscience to the postulation of “theory of mind” mechanisms in cognitive development. Cognitive science research within the philosophy of science is a rapidly developing area. Research in this area is addressing long-standing problems such as the underdetermination of theory by evidence, the nature and processes of conceptual change, and the nature of scientific reasoning, in light of salient empirical investigations and interpretations in other areas of cognitive science. Much of the research in this area of philosophy of science employs a ‘cognitive-historical’ method, which makes use of the customary range of historical records, as well as studies of contemporary science, to discern the nature and origins of representational, methodological, and reasoning practices employed by scientists. Thus, real practices, rather than a priori speculation about these, are the focus of cognitive accounts within the philosophy of science. Cognitive science research within all areas of philosophy not only contributes to furthering philosophical analysis, but also enriches fundamental understanding of cognition. Finally, this volume and the conference from which the papers are drawn bring together for the first time significant numbers of philosophers within the cognitive science community in China and those in the international community. The results bode well for this to be the beginning of a long and fruitful interchange. Nancy J. Nersessian Chair, The Cognitive Science Society Professor of Cognitive Science Georgia Institute of Technology August, 2003 （转自文丛第一卷）