Perlis on strong and weak self-reference -- a mirror reversal

Author: Bojadziev D.

Source: Journal of Consciousness Studies, Volume 7, Number 5, 2000 , pp. 60-66(7)

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Abstract:

The kind of self-reference which Perlis (1997) characterizes as strong, as opposed to formal self-reference which he characterizes as weak, is actually already present in standard forms of formal self-reference. Even if formal self-reference is weak because it is delegated, there is no specific delegation of reference for self-referential sentences, and their ‘self’ part is strong enough. In particular, the structure of self-reference in Godel's sentence, with its application of a self-referential process to itself, provides a model of Perlis’ characterization of a self. This structure can also be interpreted visually, in a way relevant to self and consciousness, namely as self-recognition in a mirror.

Keywords: Self-reference; self-recognition; mirror; diagonalization; Godel sentence

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: Department of Intelligent Systems, Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Email:damjan.bojadziev@ijs.si

Publication date: 2000-01-01