organization levels

[TGELDER%IUBACS.BITNET@VMA.CC.CMU.EDU]

Talk of "levels" (of organization, of complexity, of analysis, etc) is
pervasive in discussions of connectionism, especially in relation to the
brain on one hand and some kind of "symbolic" level on the other.

Unfortunately there is no well-developed account of what levels really
are, and what kinds there are, and so much of the discussion lacks
sharp edges, to say the least.

A fellow here at Indiana University,
Allen Yu-Huong Houng, is writing his philosophy PhD dissertation on the
concept of "level" in scientific theorizing with particular application

to psychology and the relation of connectionist modeling to other modes
of psychological explanation.  He adopts and develops theories of
levels from other fields, primarily biology, mainstream philosophy of
science, and computer science.  He has a good first draft of a comprehensive
chapter on the concept of a level, and would probably be glad to distribute
it to interested parties for discussion and critical feedback. He can be
contacted at

Department of Philosophy
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN 47405

or I can pass on email messages.

Tim van Gelder
tgelder at ucs.indiana.edu