Kenneth Sayre (1928–2022)

The nature of consciousness is set of issues that have long intrigued and preoccupied philosophers, among others. This 1965 work by Kenneth Sayre (Univ. of Notre Dame) was written, according to the author, to advance his own understanding of the phenomenon. As a scientist, I find that a curious reason to write a book (since one would presume that one writes to explain what one has discovered/ thinks/ concludes, not as a process of discovery. But if one considers writing to be a form of thinking, then the author's method is justified.

As Sayre explains in the book's Preface, he considers the best way to test one's understanding of a mental function is to attempt to describe how it might be approximated in a mechanical system -- and if that cannot be done, to explain clearly why that is the case. Accordingly, Sayre begins and ends the book with "the question of machine consciousness." As a biologist, I'm inclined towards a different approach that focuses on the biological (neural) basis for consciousness (and which would deny, in absence of definitive evidence to the contrary, that consciousness can be a property of inorganic constructions). But Sayre's approach has been judged as very fruitful by the philosophic experts. This book is technical and bears close attention, yet its audience need not be confined to the professional philosopher. I believe I understood most of it, although with some years having passed, I confess that it hasn't stuck with me (nor have I continued to worry on the problem, which seems obscure and quite likely unsolvable). While its year of publication (1965) makes the book rather dated, it may still stretch the mind of the reader fortunate enough to pick up a copy.… (més)