Conversations with History: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

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Dreyfus

Meaning, Relevance, and the Limits of Technology: Conversation with Hubert L. Dreyfus, Professor of Philosophy, UCB; November 2, 2005, by Harry Kreisler

This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.

Welcome to a Conversation With History. I'm Harry Kreisler of the Institute of International Studies. Our guest today is Hubert Dreyfus, who is Professor of Philosophy at U.C. Berkeley. His many publications include What Computers Still Can't Do and On the Internet. book coverHe recently won the Barwise Prize of the American Philosophical Association, an award given for bringing philosophy and the study of computers under one roof, and he is a past president of the American Philosophical Association.

  1. Background ... leaving Terre Haute ... physics ... discovering philosophy ... dyslexia ... graduate education ... trying to find the right question ... AI students at MIT
  2. Teaching Philosophy ... the idea of a calling ... being called to teach ... younger brother ... encountering AI's challenge to philosophy ... analytics vs. phenomonologists
  3. The Question of the Body ... Greek emphasis on the mind ... Pascal ... Kirkegaard ... Heidegger ... thinking about skills ... getting stuck in the rules
  4. More Thoughts on Teaching ... the value of accidents ... learning while teaching ... risks and mistakes
  5. Merleau-Ponty ... Continental roots in Heidegger ... coping ... getting an optimal grip ... roots in Aristotle ... going beneath Heidegger
  6. Artificial Intelligence ... intercorporeality vs. cyberspace ... rules vs. unique response ... AI theory rooted in Cartesian view ... "physical symbol systems" ... the importance of the body ... AI inherits a lemon ... hopeless case
  7. The Disembodied Internet ... Merleau-Ponty and intercorporeality ... Samuel Todes and body structure ... the telephone
  8. Human Interaction: The Interview ... going with the flow ... skillful coping and mastery ... advice for students ... trusting luck

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