Biography
Dr. John Searle has been teaching at the University of California,
Berkeley, since 1959, and is noted for contributions to the philosophy
of language, philosophy of mind and consciousness, on the
characteristics of socially constructed versus physical realities, and
on practical reason. He is very well known for his development of a
thought experiment, called the "Chinese Room" argument, which argues
that computers do not have to "understand" language in order to process
information.
He has written over 16 books, recent books include The Mystery of Consciousness (1997), Mind, Language and Society (1998), Rationality in Action (2001), Mind (2004), and Liberté et Neurobiologie (2004). A number of books have been written on his work, and a number of conferences have been devoted to his work.
He has received a number of honorary degrees, and numerous prizes and awards including National Humanities Medal, USA, 2004; Jovellanos Prize, Spain, 2000; Jean Nicod Prize, France, 2000; Distinguished Teaching Award, University of California, Berkeley, 1999; Homer Smith Award N.Y.U. School of Medicine, 1993; Fulbright Award 1983 and 1985; Reith Lecturer, BBC, London, 1984; Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1977--; and Guggenheim Fellow, 1975-76.
Dr. Searle was educated at Christ Church, Oxford University on a
Rhodes Scholarship, receiving a D.Phil in 1959. Professor Searle
was the first tenured professor to join the Free Speech Movement at UC
Berkeley.
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