MINDS, MACHINES AND SEARLE 2:

The paper pointed out that a "Chinese-Understanding" computer program would not really understand Chinese because someone who did not understand Chinese (e.g., Searle himself) could execute the same program while still not understanding Chinese; hence the computer executing the program would not be understanding Chinese either. The paper rebutted various prima facie counterarguments against this (mostly variants on the theme that it would not be Searle but "the system," of which Searle would only be a part, that would indeed be understanding Chinese when the program was being executed), but all of this seemed trivial to me: Yes, of course an inert program alone could not understand anything (so Searle was right about that), but surely an executing program might be part of what an understanding "system" like ourselves really does and is (so the "Systems Reply" was right too). The paper was refereed (favorably), and was accepted under the revised title 'Minds, Brains, and Programs', circ

The paper pointed out that a "Chinese-Understanding" computer program would not really understand Chinese because someone who did not understand Chinese (e.g., Searle himself) could execute the same program while still not understanding Chinese; hence the computer executing the program would not be understanding Chinese either. The paper rebutted various prima facie counterarguments against this (mostly variants on the theme that it would not be Searle but "the system," of which Searle would only be a part, that would indeed be understanding Chinese when the program was being executed), but al