论文标题
模拟计算和表示
Analog Computation and Representation
论文作者
论文摘要
相对于数字计算，哲学文献中忽略了模拟计算。在对模拟计算的关注的范围内，它被误解了。接收到的观点 - 模拟计算基本上与连续性有关 - 完全是错误的，正如对不连续的，离散模拟计算机的历史示例的仔细关注所示。我不是收到的视图，而是根据特定类型的模拟表示形式来开发模拟计算的帐户，该计算允许不连续。因此，该帐户表征了所有类型的模拟计算，无论是连续还是离散。此外，该帐户的结构可以推广到其他类型的计算：模拟计算本质上涉及模拟表示，而数字计算基本上涉及数字表示。除了是对计算一般哲学理解的必要组成部分外，理解模拟计算对于当代神经科学和认知科学中的计算解释也很重要。
Relative to digital computation, analog computation has been neglected in the philosophical literature. To the extent that attention has been paid to analog computation, it has been misunderstood. The received view -- that analog computation has to do essentially with continuity -- is simply wrong, as shown by careful attention to historical examples of discontinuous, discrete analog computers. Instead of the received view, I develop an account of analog computation in terms of a particular type of analog representation that allows for discontinuity. This account thus characterizes all types of analog computation, whether continuous or discrete. Furthermore, the structure of this account can be generalized to other types of computation: analog computation essentially involves analog representation, whereas digital computation essentially involves digital representation. Besides being a necessary component of a complete philosophical understanding of computation in general, understanding analog computation is important for computational explanation in contemporary neuroscience and cognitive science.
