Classical Cognitive Science and Symbolic Models

Abstract

In this paper, I present the theoretical bases for classical cognitive science. Firstly, I briefly describe the main features of computational functionalism and classical symbolic models. Then I review arguments from productivity, systematicity, compositionality and inferential coherence. Advocates of classical cognitive science take these arguments as an evidence that we need classical approach for an explanation of the above mentioned features of cognition. I conclude with a suggestion that it is possible to get compositionality of representations which differ from classical symbolic approach. Since compositionality plays a central role in explaining the four features of cognition, this opens the way for alternative approaches.