Brain in a Vat Theory by Hilary Putnam | Analysis

Brain in a Vat Theory by Hilary Putnam | Analysis In Hilary Putnams Brain-in-a-vat (BIV) example, a world exists in which brains, a neuroscientist, a supercomputer running simulations of brains contained in a vat, and the vat itself are the only objects. These items have either always existed or appeared completely randomly with each item in the same state (i.e. computers running simulations, brains are in vats, etc.) Understanding this, imagine the following scenario: You are the evil scientist who monitors BIVs and the experiences they receive from the computers. You ensure that all the BIVs connected believe they are living a functional life in Springfield, Illinois. One of your BIVs is code-named The Chancellor. After some time passes, the Chancellor virtually utters the phrase I know I am just a brain-in-a-vat, which he believes to be true, and then continues on with his programmed functions. The BIV scenario Putnam presents is one such argument positing the skeptical hypothesis. Much like the Descartes Evil Genius, the skeptical hypothesis calls into doubt ones knowledge of the external world. While the Evil Genius relies on a supreme deceiving deity, Putnams BIV ponders the effects of a mad scientist using computers to induce illusory perceptions and experiences. Traditional skeptics contend we are unable to discern the BIV hypothesis as false; if we were to grant the BIV premises as true, then our experiences would appear just they presently do (Stanford 2009). Consequently, skeptics maintain that we lack the ability to know anything about the world external to us. Putnam applies his semantic externalism and consequently deems the scenario with the Chancellor impossible. Semantic externalism is a form of externalism where meanings and truth conditions of ones sentences, and the contents of ones intentional mental states, depend upon the character of ones external, causal environment (Stanford 2009). More precisely, he focuses his concern to the first-person sentence, I am a brain-in-a-vat to demonstrate that an instance in which the Chancellor verbally uttered said phrase is necessarily false. Consequently, Putnam deduces that we mustnt be BIVs. I will argue that Putnam misuses the definition of vat in his brain-in-a-vat experiment, thereby decreasing his likelihood of disproving the skeptical hypothesis. In this essay, I will define semantic externalism, followed by Putnams use of it against three different BIV scenarios. If we were to accept semantic externalism, then we would necessarily acknowledge that how we define a term is not the sole factor in deciding what the word means to us. A common example would be the examination of a familiar substance (e.g. water) and how its meaning would remain constant even before encountering it. More precisely, those who adhere to semantic externalism would view the word water as a term ascribed to a substance with a chemical composition of H2O before scientists had discerned the molecules comprising it; however, the composition of this substance we had labeled water did, to some extent, contribute to our meaning (DeRose 102). For Putnam, interaction with things in the world represents the external factor. For example, consider two people who have the same mental states and then start interacting with substances which are cosmetically similar while still composed of different molecules. Perhaps one individual interacts exclusively with Ag (silver), and the other interacts only with ABC, but both learn the word silver to refer to each of their respective substances. As a result, each individual would have the same mental states (desires, beliefs, volitions, etc.), but with differing in what they reference; silver would mean Ag for one, and ABC for the other. In order for Putnam to connect semantic externalism to his BIV experiment, he begins by noting that it is necessary to acknowledge that any articulation of the sentence I am a brain-in-a-vat appears to be self-refuting. More precisely, if we were to maintain this sentence to be true, the sentence would still derive a false conclusion since we couldnt say I am a brain-in-a-vat and know that I am in such a state. Take for example the statement [t]here is no definite statement. If you view this statement as true, it would have to be false because it is a definite statement. If you posited the statement to be false, then the answer is still false. To demonstrate how this relates to Putnams BIVs, first assume that we actually exist in the tangible world (T) just as commonly held, instead of in vats (instance T, where T is the Tangible world.) We have the following: (T1) If I live in a Tangible world, I am not a Brain-in-a-vat. (T2) In instance T, I live in a tangible world. (TC) I am not a Brain-in-a-vat (True)(T1, T2) I am not a BIV. (TC) Next, consider we are now the brains in the vats a different instance (instance BIV). In this instance BIV, an intricate computing system continually feeds us phenomenal experiences. So, we now have the complicated computing system sending us signals for us to construct our experiences. Now we have a different problem in instance BIV: (BIV1)If I am an actual BIV, a computer is sending me phenomenal experiences. (BIV2) I am an actual BIV. (BIV3)A computer is sending me phenomenal experiences. (BIV1, BIV2) (BIV4)If I utter I am a BIV, I am a brain-in-a-vat. (False, BIV3) (BIVC) I am not a brain-in-a-vat (True) (BIV1, BIV2, BIV3, BIV4) Thus, I am not a brain-in-a-vat (BIVC) To clarify, semantic externalism implies that the subject will never interact with the Tangible vats in the world. So, when the Chancellor iterates vat, he does not mean tangible-vats, but instead the origin of these electric impulses. More precisely, when he says vat he means artificial-vats because he actually interacted with a computer program. If the Chancellor was referring to a brain in the instance BIV, that brain would be referring to the electrical impulses sent from the computer in the form of artificial vats. Therefore, we arrive at the following scenario: (BIV1) I am a brain-in-a-vat (False); (BIV1) implies (BIV2) I am not a brain-in-a-vat (True) (BIV1, BIV2) implies we are not brains in vats. Consequently, the notion that I am a brain-in-a-vat appears to be a self-refuting according to Putnam. After Putnam believes he has established this self-refutation, he must form a generic (i.e. universally applicable) argument (U). Hence, the following instance: Iteration of (U1) I am a brain-in-a-vat (false, necessarily); (U2) I am not a brain-in-a-vat (from U1)(true, necessarily) (UC)If I am not a brain-in-a-vat, then we are not brains in vats. We are not brains in vats. (UC) The uttering of I am a brain-in-a-vat must be false since the instance BIV concludes that we are not brains in vats. As a result, we mustnt be brains in vats according to this logic. While on the surface this may seem sound, I intend to show how Putnam may have missed the mark. At first glance, the logic behind the Tangible world instance, the BIV instance, and the Universal instance may seem identical insofar as they each deduce we are not brains in vats; however, each stipulation incorporates a different meaning of the word vat. The vat used in the Universal instance represents an obscure term between the first two mentioned instances (i.e. Tangible world and BIV instance); the Tangible vat represents vats from the tangible world just as we would perceive it today; and the BIV vat stands for the virtual vat that the super phenomenal computer has created for us with its electric signals. Putnams error occurs when he doesnt universalize the vat definition by using the latter sense of the artificial vat throughout instance BIV. While a bit confusing, it seems Putnam considers the instance (BIV1) since the only time it is true is in the latter sense of vat. Putnam also wants to tie this definition to the Tangible world. After all, we all live in the tangible world and would want to believe we are not brains in vats while in the tangible world. Unfortunately, using slightly different definitions during an attempt to prove this conclusion hampers the argument. In other words, his argument is either that (BIV1) implies (BIV2) implies (TC) or that (BIV1) implies (T2) implies (TC); however, these arguments fail to hold true. It is unnecessary to consider both possibilities in depth independently, since they can both be repudiated on the same criteria. Whether going from (BIV2) to (TC), or from (BIV1) to (T2), Putnam makes an observation about BIV-vats, and then uses that to make a claim about Tangible-vats. The true statement, (BIV2) I am a not a brain in a virtual-vat fails to imply Not being brains in tangible-vats. Likewise, (T2) I am not a brain in a tangible-vat being true, fails to follow from (BIV1) I am a brain in an artificial-vat being false. The lack of a constant definition of vat poses one significant stumbling block for Putnam; however, if you maintain a certain degree of what constitutes vat, the argument still remains invalid and runs into other problems which I will not address here. I have attempted to argue that one cannot get to (TC) from (BIV1); however, anyone who subscribes to Putnams argument against brains-in-vats might argue the opposite. It is important to recognize the conditions surrounding the argument. More precisely, Putnam presupposes we live in the natural world. The skeptics main argument is that we lack the knowledge to discern whether or not we exist as brains in vats. We would only be able to differentiate between the instances and the vat usage if we new definitively which instances were being referenced. Semantic externalism lacks the ability to liberate us from a skeptical hypothesis. Putnam fails to show that we can not be Brains in Vats, but he does show that if we were a BIV and uttered the phrase I am a BIV, we would not know it. He fails to cinch a logical loop and all he really shows is that the brain in the vat couldnt know it was a brain-in-a-vat. If Putnams version of semantic externalism is correct, but we are brains in vats, then we lack the ability to discuss the tangible-world. For example, if we assume that we are brains in vats, when I said the worlds tangible-world in the previous sentence, I was actually referring to the artificial world because that is what I have been interacting with. Therefore, provided that the skeptic is correct that we would not know if we were brains in a vat, and also assuming that Putnams semantic externalism is similarly correct, then we simply do lack the knowledge of the meaning of the words in our vocabulary. More precisely, assuming t hat interaction remains critical to gaining understanding and meaning, then it becomes a necessity to know precisely with what we must interact. Hilary Putnam attempted to embrace semantic externalism in hopes of freeing us from skeptics; however, Putnam did illustrate that BIVs wouldnt be able to say or even think they were BIVs, thereby demonstrating a quandary for semantic externalism. Works Cited DeRose, Keith. Responding to Skepticism. Skepticism A Contemporary Reader. New York: Oxford UP, USA, 1999. Print. Putnam, Hilary. Brains in a Vat. Putnam on Brains in a Vat. 2 Mar. 2005. Drexel University. 10 Oct. 2009 . Unknown. Brains in a Vat. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 29 Oct. 2004. SEP. 10 Oct. 2009 . Subway Franchise: SWOT and Management Analysis Subway Franchise: SWOT and Management Analysis Analyze the goals and objectives using the mission statement as the basis. 1.1 Mission Statement of the selected organization To provide the tools and knowledge to allow entrepreneurs to successfully compete in the QSR industry worldwide by consistently offering value to consumers through providing great-tasting food that is good for them and made the way they like it. Goals of the mission statement SUBWAY restaurants goal is to be ranked the number one restaurant by consumers and number one in restaurant country in every market that they serve. Environmental factors which affect the company 2.1 Political effects Monitoring, understanding and adapting to the political environment is absolutely essential for any business, because it significantly affects every business, some of the factors are Constancy of the government Type of Government (democratic, dictatorship, monarchy, etc) The government have Economic policy Available Trade policy Diplomatic actions in nearby countries Furthermore, political context can change for the foreseeable future. 2.2 Economic affects When walking down the Subway restaurant, its impossible to overlook the ever-changing price of food. According to the Food Timeline, in early part of 1990s one Italian herb and cheese bread cost 1pound and 50pence, by 1998, that same Italian herb and cheese bread cost 3 pounds, on average. The entire site of food economics transformed greatly throughout the periods, absent from the agricultural economy of the 1930s to the technological, consumer-driven market. Also this alteration, there are many number of other issues that impact food economics. 2.3 Production and Supply As improvement of technology came to farms, the landlords able to produced more food and transported it to marketplace extra successfully. But still, quick production does not for all time signify good prices. The industrial market is brutal, and maintaining cost of the farms are important. To build up for this, some countries like the United States offer farm subsidies in direct to steady farm manufacture and the food marketplace. in addition, studies continues searching for ways to get better food give ways in the face of an ever-rising population. 2.4 Consumer Demand The tastes of people all over the world revolutionize from time to time, mostly when showing to new civilizations or facts. For example, in the 1980s America began acceptance sushi and other Asian-fusion foods. According to Food Wine Magazine, from 1988-1998 the amount of sushi bars quintupled in the United States. Likewise, with the focus on strong eating, as of 2010 the market for organic foods grew to $14 billion. 2.5 Global warming (ecological) When the crops damage by weather, the price of that loss will increase the prices consumers payment. Scientists learning the matter of global warming for it are predictable lasting impact on food financial side. Spectacular climate changes crash give ways, and hence the food supply. To make up for this, farms on the going ingestion in technological process that help reduce loss. This extra cost for promote also figures into the last price of food. 2.6 Preparation Time Time is money. Another affecting economic factor is food lies in the hands of the cook. In formative range, many cooks must be acquainted with how long it takes to locate and prepare exact items. This particular propensity made fast food and instant mixes more and more popular, particularly in Subway or anywhere people work outside the house. Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses, taking into consideration all the environmental factors. SWOT analysis (S)trengths Subway Restaurants is the famous submarine sandwich franchise based in the United States and all over the world having companies in more than seventy two countries enclose over 20,532 restaurants in this planet. The business has been using a number of nontraditional channels for creation of its system physically powerful and the expansion rate of the company has also been rising. Subway has well well-known itself as a brand name in the fast food manufacturing world and having brand respect all over the world. Because of outstanding to its great strategies the company has turn out to be the most important franchise in the world in a very small phase of time. The company has still situated itself in places like hospitals, schools, churches, and famous retail supplies. This creates the start up price of franchises low. Subway is recognized to be companies that provide subs sandwich healthy and that are favored and to a great extent as evaluated to food items exist by other fast-food chains like Sonic Drive and McDonalds. The company has attached with the American Heart Association to add to its figure. The food menu of the Subway repeats the high persist of healthy and fresh food which is quick too. The new decoration of the companionship is an additional issue that provides a fresh feeling pinnacles the customers. Some of the newly introduced products imitate the healthy offering of the company. The marketing and promotional strategies adopted by the company are an example of the positive focus on demand, consumer preferences, trends, modernism and manufactured goods leveraging. These additional add to the potential to the company. The market share and the profits of the company that was outstanding to sandwiches greater than before greatly as a result to the reduced interest of the customer towards the chips and hamburgers due to raise consciousness about healthy foods. (W)eaknesses The adornment and give the impression of being of the franchises is said to be old an outdated. Another crisis with franchises is that the liking intensity of the customers is not the similar across franchises and also some franchises execute very poor. Service obligation is not reliable from store to store. This can supposed to be connected to employees as there is not much incentive and the revenue rate of the staffs is very high. (O)pportunities The company can spend extra money to expand its industry in the international bazaar and also make developments in its adornment and look to give confidence dine-in. By civilizing the customer service satisfaction for the customer can be greater than before, and also the loyal customer base will increase. The company can recover the relation inside and outside the organization by altering its strategys a bit. (T)hreats The company may face serious threats from some of the big fast food connection in the world which comprise brands like Wendys, KFC, and McDonalds etc. These restaurants are extremely older and have huge industrial trustworthy customer base over the years. The present financial recession is an additional threat for the business as it straightly affects the use and expenditure authority of the consumers. The information requirements at each of the levels in the management A large level our workers are serving our Supervisors who are serving our Middle Managers who are serving our Vice Presidents, who are serving the CEO, who is presumably serving the Board and the shareholders/investors. The extraordinary part is, by plan, also everybody has back to their customer or the client is actually supposed to serve the company! If customers are truly our focus, or as a effect, if we must focus on serving our workers so that they will serve our customers, A present fashion in sales organization design is to be buyer centric. The buyer centric sales mock-up puts the buyer at the middle of the sales procedure in an attempt to bring into line customers wants and buying first choices with the method we intend our sales tools and produce value. Adjoin this to our excellence customer service initiatives, the customer is always right announcements, and customer service surveys that were once rare, but now seem to have attached themselves via webpage to the bottom of every major grocer, retailer and restaurant chains receipts in fresh memory. Strategic levels Chief Executive Officer Management level Marketing Managers Finance Managers Production Manager Knowledge level Supervisors Operational level Employees Information systems at each of them to support the major business functions of the organization and strategize its operations giving it the required competitive edge. Examine and recommend IS to facilitate a healthy The information systems need to be reliable, sophisticated and user-friendly for Nestle. IS Information System [application of] effectiveness to focus on goals. An IS collects process stores analysis and disseminates information for a specific purpose Major 6 types of systems executive support systems (ESS) decision support system (DSS) management information system (MIS) knowledge work system (KWS) office automation systems (OAS) transaction processing systems (TPS) ESS / EIS Strategic level Inputs aggregate data (with drill down) processing -Interactive function-Monitoring key performance indicators E.g. sales, costs, profits, growth, share prices, capacity utilization users- Senior managers Characteristic of ESS / EIS expensive to develop executive information system provide timely concise information about organization to top managers provide internal as well as external information economic indices stock and commodity prices industry trends Decision support system (DSS) Management level Inputs low volume data Processing interactive Output decision analysis Users professionals staff Example contract cost analysis, outsourcing decision, pricing, decisions etc à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Key elements for DSS Models base Data base User Interface Business orientation What-if analysis End user makes changes to variables or relationships among variables and observe the resulting changes in the values of others variables Management information system (MIS) Management level Inputs high volume of data Processing simple models Outputs summary reports Users middle managers Example annual budgeting, quarterly sales reports, annual production reports Characteristic of MIS Structured and semi -structured decision Report control oriented Past and present data Internal orientation Lengthy design process Knowledge work system (KWS) Knowledge level Inputs- deign spaces Processing modelling Outputs design graphics Users technical staff Example engineering work station Transaction processing system (TPS) Basic business systems that serve the operational level A computerized system that perform and records the daily routine transaction necessary to the conduct of the business Point of sales system Executive information systems (EIS) Function: monitoring key performance indicators Users: senior manager Expensive to develop b) How information systems can be used to facilitate Customer Relations Management aspects of Nestle. Providing customer feedback forms, so customer can send feedback through URL also that will help to improve the organization Asking about customer requirements in general when customers call for problems automated record system can help to find out a solution in future Take action straight to customer feedback demonstrating how the company pay attentions to its customers heartening a service culture all the way through the association Companies also employ a wide variety of tactics to directly give confidence customer faithfulness through encouragements or special treatment. Some examples are Creating a point system that offers rewards once a customer accumulates a certain number of points supply discount or free-product coupons Running competitions in which regulars may win prizes by towards the inside a drawing Enormous customer service enlarges customer loyalty, forces income and decreases in force charge by using Information System. But, usual customer service applications frequently include only a portion of the information agents need to give great service. Because important information about customers, products and services sits in a huge amount of systems both inside and outside the business firewall, and in several forms such as database records, SaaS applications, text (letters, forms, email and chat messages, IVR scripts, blogs) and even voice recordings (call records). as long as inclusive, combined data access has to date just been too expensive and too complex. In addition, conservative customer service applications are too frequently hard to use, and operate with intolerable data latency rates and response dispensation times. FOCUS ON CUSTOMER LOYALTY The purpose of most well-developed customer relations programs is to turn one-time or occasional customers into loyal buyers. Customer relations specialists distinguish loyalty from satisfaction, noting that its possible for customers to be satisfied but have no particular loyalty. Indeed, one mid-1990s study found that three-quarters of the customers who reported being satisfied with one companys products still bought competitors products as well. The emphasis on loyalty is mostly driven by the bottom line. Keeping existing customers is cheaper than finding new ones, and having a base of loyal customers for one product or service improves sales for the companys other offerings. By some estimates, the amount a company must spend to attract a new customer is five or six times that needed to keep bringing back loyal customers. Repeat customers are also more likely to recommend the company to others and to try out the companys latest products. The financial results are that a small percentage increase in customer loyalty can translate into a significant rise in profits. The opposite of loyalty-customer turnover-can deplete a companys marketing resources and can signal weakness in the firms brand image or competitive position. However, high turnover does not necessarily mean that the companys underlying product or service is at fault. Rather, it may be the customers negative (or simply neutral) experiences and impressions that stand in the way of loyalty. In the late 1990s one executive went so far to suggest that happy customers would even buy bad products from a company they liked, whereas unhappy or indifferent customers might ignore a really good product. TOOLS FOR BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS Strategies for getting better customer relations and developing customer loyalty variety from just opening up communications channels to implementing elaborate point systems that reward loyalty. In order to be efficient, such programs and schemes must be tailored to customer requests and interests. For example, if a company devastates its would-be loyal customers with frequent mailings (or broadcast faxes or e-mail) consisting of unimportant or unappealing offers, it may be turning itself into a irritation instead of hopeful loyalty. 3) Ethical Issues Examine the ethical issues of Information Systems for this organization. Specific DSS benefits Improving individual effectiveness Expediting solving problem Make easy interpersonal statement Promoting training or learning growing managerial control EIS issues EIS Cost Employee Resistance to the EIS Management Resistance to the EIS Who is the user? sponsor for EIS Information Technology (IT) and modern management accounting Information technology has had a dramatic and far-reaching impact on the structure and conduct of business. IT has also been frequently poorly employed at great cost to companies. When implemented well, IT has made it possible for companies to exploit the benefits of: ABC systems E-commerce POS (point-of-sales) information to management and suppliers In many cases, the benefits of IT have been an increase in the accuracy of information and faster decision-making. A review of key IT with reference to business applications Executive Information Systems (EIS/ESS) Designed to provide senior management with easy-to-use information pulled out from internal and external sources Features: flexible, sophisticated, real-time responsiveness Management Information Systems (MIS) Designed to provide summarised information files used for management accounting and reporting purposes (i.e. reporting enabling management to make timely structured decisions for planning, controlling and directing activities) Structured decisions: recurrent and relatively simple decisions addressing repetitive situations in a deterministic environment Features: relatively inflexible, focused on internal processes Enterprise-Wide Resource Planning (ERP) Decision Support Systems (DSS) Individuals may reproduce this material if it is for their own private study use only. Reproduction by any means for any other purpose is prohibited. These course materials are for educational purposes only and so are necessarily simplified and summarised. Always obtain expert advice on any specific issue. Refer to our full terms and conditions of use. No liability for damage arising from use of these notes will be accepted by the ExP Group. Combine data and analytical models to support management decision making on issues which are exposed to significant uncertainty Provide the decision maker with alternatives, evaluating them under a range of possible conditions Expert Systems (ES) A form of DSS consisting of a specialised database and a set of rules on how input data should be correlated and interpreted in order to indicate the best course of action Example: loan application ES Ethical Issues An ethical approach to doing business is not just a matter of personal virtue, but needs to be addressed by policy (and action) at the company level as well. Ethical frameworks are not merely nice to have, but are considered crucial to building long-term professionalism. Their absence can undermine motivation and the sense of purpose a company must have in order to succeed.