12/14/2023 0 Comments Mindless automaton meaning![]() ![]() ![]() And anything bullet-pointed is my reply to RP’s criticisms. It might not matter if physicists are bad philosophers, but it matters if philosophers are bad philosophers! Paragraphs in quotation marks are quotations from me to which RP is responding. When philosophers adopt determinism, and free will and determinism are a decidedly philosophical topic, they have failed at the only thing they are supposed to be doing philosophy. If it is not, then at least their physics has value. This failure of logic on their part – in fact – rejection of the existence of logic as a causally efficacious meaningful thing, hopefully is not reflected in their physics. Without agency there are only “sequences of events” and no one is arguing with anyone and persuasion is an illusion. And then the “person” he is persuading, from his point of view, likewise follows its programming and is being buffeted by mechanical and physical processes from which he is metaphysically indistinguishable. According to the tenets of a determinist, he has no choice but to believe what he believes and thus is behaving identically to a mindless machine. Without agency, at best the determinist is simply a machine following its programming, as RP happily and continually asserts, with no ability to assess the value of his arguments or to change them if they are deficient. In engaging in argument on this topic at all, agency is implicitly assumed by the determinist both on the part of the person doing the (not so) rational persuading and on the part of the person who is supposed to be rationally persuaded, in direct violation of the determinist’s beliefs. Determinists are forced into their untenable and reflexively self-contradictory positions by their assumption of materialism and a belief in a mechanical universe. Since these asides add nothing to the debate and are simply ad hominem, I have removed them. RP is a polemicist and likes to pepper his arguments with snide comments directed at me personally. Send us feedback about these examples.This article is a continuation of an interaction with a blogger calling himself Robot Philosopher. These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'automaton.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Todd Plummer, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Sep. ![]() 2021 The hotel's resident automaton, MOBI, greets guests, escorts them to their rooms, and even delivers small amenities from a stowage compartment in its belly, providing service with a (digital) smile. 2023 Every parent has at times felt like an automaton. Heller McAlpin, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 June 2023 The Voyager Skeleton is by comparison, monochromatic and less theatrical-there are no automatons or chimes. Prem Thakker, The New Republic, 27 June 2023 In late 18th-century India, a large automaton depicting a near life-size wooden tiger mauling an Englishman was created for Tipu Sultan, the Muslim ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. ![]() Camille Okhio, ELLE Decor, 3 July 2023 Lucero, if nothing else, is a robotic outrage automaton, like many of his contemporaries. IEEE Spectrum, 29 June 2023 The 20-inch-tall model of our solar system follows a centuries-long tradition of exquisite automatons that inject awe into the daily lives of a lucky few. George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 July 2023 The chess-playing automaton, dressed in a turban and elaborate Ottoman robes, toured Europe in the closing decades of the 18th century accompanied by its inventor Wolfgang von Kempelen. Recent Examples on the Web In a world of cookie-cutter pop-music stars and automatons, Sinéad O’Connor was a one-off. ![]()
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