ABSTRACT

Computational approaches to explain how the mind works have bloomed in the last three decades. The idea that computing can explain thinking emerged in the early modern period, but its impact on the philosophy and sciences of the mind and brain owes much to the groundbreaking work of Alan Turing on the foundations of both mathematical computation theory and artificial intelligence. The Routledge Handbook of the Computational Mind reflects these historical dynamics, engages with recent developments, and highlights future vistas. It provides readers with a comprehensive, state-of-the-art treatment of the history, foundations, challenges, applications, and prospects of computational ideas for understanding mind, brain, and behavior. The plurality of approaches within the computational sciences has helped to motivate several epistemological and methodological views going under the general banner of 'pluralism'. According to the views, the plurality of computational approaches observed in the sciences is an essential feature of scientific inquiry into the mind.