DREYFUS, Hubert L(ederer) 1929-

PERSONAL: Born October 15, 1929, in Terre Haute, IN; son of Stanley S. (a businessman) and Irene (Lederer) Dreyfus; married Patricia Allen, June 25, 1962 (divorced, 1967); married Genevieve Boissier, December 10, 1974; children: (second marriage) Stephen Daniel, Gabrielle Boissier. Education: Harvard University, B.A. (summa cum laude; philosophy), 1951, M.A., 1952, Ph.D., 1964.

ADDRESSES: Home—1116 Sterling Ave., Berkeley, CA 94708. Office—Department of Philosophy, University of California, 314 Moses Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-2390. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, instructor in philosophy, 1957-59; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, instructor, 1960-63, assistant professor, 1963-66, associate professor of philosophy, 1967-68; University of California, Berkeley, associate professor, 1968-72, professor of philosophy, 1972-94, graduate school professor, 1994—, professor of rhetoric, 1999—. National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute, University of California, Berkeley, director, 1980, seminar director, 1981, 1983, and 1984; NEH Summer Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, director, 1988, codirector, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997. Lecturer, Collège de France, 1983, École Normale Supèrieure, 1991, University of Amsterdam, 2003, and University of Tokyo, 2004; visiting professor, Technical University, Vienna, Austria, 1986, 1991, Technische Universität, May-June, 1986; Frankfurt University, 1989, Aarhus University, 1998, University of Aukland Foundation, 1998, Hamilton College, 1998-99, University of Tasmania, 2000, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, June, 2000, and Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2000; Phi Beta Kappa lecturer, 1992-93. Member of national board of consultants, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1989—. Has conducted interviews and made numerous appearances on television and radio.

MEMBER: American Philosophical Association (vice president, Pacific Division, 2003-04; president, Pacific Division, 2004-05), Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (fellow), Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS: Sheldon traveling fellowship, Harvard University, 1953-54; Fulbright fellowship, 1956-57; French Government grant, 1959-60; Baker Award, 1966, for outstanding teaching; National Science Foundation grant, 1968; Harbison Prize, 1968, for outstanding teaching; American Council of Learned Societies grant, 1968-69; Guggenheim fellow, 1985; National Endowment for the Humanities basic research grant, 1988-89; Yrjö Reenpää Medal, Finnish Cultural Foundation, 1991; honorary doctorate, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 1998; Rhoda H. Goldman Award for Distinguished Faculty Advising of Undergraduates, University of California—Berkeley, 2003; Distinguished Teaching Award, University of California—Berkeley, 2004.

WRITINGS:

(With Patricia Allen Dreyfus, translator and author of preface) Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Sense and NonSense, Northwestern University Press (Evanston, IL), 1964.

Alchemy and Artificial Intelligence, RAND Corp. (Santa Monica, CA), 1965.

What Computers Can't Do: A Critique of Artificial Reason, Harper (New York, NY), 1972, third edition published with new preface as What Computers Still Can't Do: A Critique of Artificial Reason, MIT Press (Cambridge, MA), 1992.

(Editor, with Harrison Hall) Husserl, Intentionality and Cognitive Science (anthology), MIT Press (Cambridge, MA), 1982.

Beyond Philosophy: The Thought of Martin Heidegger (twelve filmed lectures), University of California Extension Media Center (Berkeley, CA), 1982.

(With Paul Rabinow) Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1982, second edition, 1983.

(With brother Stuart E. Dreyfus) Mind over Machine: The Power of Human Intuition and Expertise in the Era of the Computer, Free Press (New York, NY), 1985.

(Editor) Michel Foucault, Mental Illness and Psychology, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1987.

Being-in-the-World: A Commentary on Heidegger's "Being and Time," Division I, MIT Press (Cambridge, MA), 1989.

(Editor, with Harrison Hall) Heidegger: A Critical Reader (anthology), Basil Blackwell (Oxford, England), 1992.

(With Charles Spinosa and Fernando Flores) Disclosing New Worlds: Entrepreneurship, Democratic Action, and the Cultivation of Solidarity, MIT Press (Cambridge, MA), 1997.

Husserl, Heidegger and Modern Existentialism (video cassette), Films for the Humanities and Sciences (Princeton, NJ), 1999.

On the Internet, Routledge (New York, NY), 2001.

(Editor, with Mark Wrathall) Heidegger Reexamined, Volume 1: Phenomenology, Dasein, and Truth, Volume 2: Authenticity, Death, and the History of Being, Volume 3: Art, Poetry, and Technology, and Volume 4: Heidegger and Contemporary Philosophy, Routledge (New York, NY), 2002.

(Editor, with Mark Wrathall) A Companion to Heidegger, Blackwell (Malden, MA), 2004.

(Editor, with Mark Wrathall) A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism, Blackwell (Malden, MA), 2006.

Contributor to books, including Life-World and Consciousness, Northwestern University Press, 1970; Patterns of the Life-World, Northwestern University Press, 1971; Human and Artificial Intelligence, Appleton/Century Crofts, 1971; Interpretations of Life and Mind, edited by Marjorie Grene, Routledge, 1971; Philosophy and Psychology, edited by S. C. Brown, Macmillan, 1974; The Study of Time II, edited by J. T. Fraser and N. Lawrence, Springer Verlag, 1975; Philosophical Dimensions of the Neuro-Medical Sciences, edited by S. F. Spicker and H. T. Englehardt, Reidel, 1976; Heidegger and Modern Philosophy, edited by Michael Murray, Yale University Press, 1977; Foundations and Applications of Decision Theory, edited by C. Hooker, Reidel, 1978; Philosophical Perspectives in Artificial Intelligence, edited by M. Ringle, Humanities Press, 1979; Mind Design, edited by John Haugeland, Bradford Books, 1981; Library of Living Philosophers on Sartre, edited by P. A. Schilpp, Open Court, 1982; The Brain and the Mind (sound recording), National Public Radio, 1983; Hermeneutics: Questions and Prospects, edited by Gary Shapiro, University of Massachusetts Press, 1984; Phenomenological Essays in Memory of Aron Gurwitsch, edited by Lester Embree, University Press of America, 1984; Hermeneutics and Praxis, edited by Robert Hollinger, University of Notre Dame Press, 1985; Readings in Knowledge Representation, edited by Ronald J. Brachman and Hector J. Levesque, Morgan Kaufman Publishers, 1985; The Computer in Education: A Critical Perspective, edited by Douglas Sloan, Teachers College Press, 1985; Philosophy, Technology and Human Affairs, edited by Larry Hickman, Ibis Press, 1985; Foucault: A Critical Reader, edited by David Hoy, Basil Blackwell, 1986; Rationality, Relativism and the Human Sciences, edited by J. Margolis, M. Krauz and R. M. Burian, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1986; The Tradition of Philosophy, edited by Harrison Hall and Norman Bowie, Wadsworth, l986; Advances in Cognitive Science, edited by N. E. Sharkey, Elis Horwood, 1986; Interpretive Social Science: A Second Look, edited by Paul Rabinow and William M. Sullivan, University of California Press, 1987; The Robot's Dilemma: The Frame Problem in Artificial Intelligence, edited by Z. Pylyshyn, Ablex Publishing, 1987; Cognitive Psychology in Question, edited by Alan Costall and Arthur Still, Harvester Press, 1987; Artificial Intelligence: The Case Against, edited by Rainer Born, Croom Helm, 1987; The Great Philosophers: An Introduction to Western Philosophy, edited by Bryan Magee, BBC Books, 1987; The Artificial Intelligence Debate, edited by Stephen Graubard, MIT Press, 1988; Perspectives on Mind, edited by Herbert R. Otto and James A. Tuedio, D. Reidel, 1988; Alternative Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence at a Crossroad, edited by Massimo Negrotti, Springer Verlag, 1989; Phenomenology and Beyond: The Self and Its Language, edited by Harold A. Durfee and David F. T. Rodier, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1989; The Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence, edited by Margaret A. Boden, Oxford University Press, 1990; The Foundations of Artificial Intelligence: A Sourcebook, edited by Derek Partridge and Yorick Wilks, Cambridge University Press, 1990; Historical Foundations of Cognitive Science, edited by J. C. Smith, Kluwer, 1990; Artificial Intelligence, Culture and Language: On Education and Work, edited by Bo Göranzon and Magnus Florin, Springer Verlag, 1990; John Searle and His Critics, edited by E. Lepore and R. Van Gulick, Basil Blackwell, 1990; Universalism vs. Communitarianism, edited by David Rasmussen, MIT Press, 1990; The Interpretive Turn: Philosophy, Science, Culture, Cornell University Press, 1991; Revisioning Philosophy, edited by James Ogilvy, State University of New York Press, 1992; Cambridge Companion to Heidegger, edited by Charles Guignon, Cambridge University Press, 1992; The Break: Habermas, Heidegger, and the Nazis by Hans Sluga, edited by Christopher Ocker, Center for Hermeneutical Studies, 1992; The Necessity of Friction, edited by Nordal Akerman, Physica Verlag, 1993; Bourdieu: Critical Perspectives, edited by Craig Calhoun, Edward LiPuma, and Moishe Postone, Polity Press, 1993; Interpretive Phenomenology: Embodiment, Caring and Ethics in Health and Illness, edited by Patricia Benner, Sage Publications, 1994; Technology and the Politics of Knowledge, edited by Andrew Feenberg and Alastair Hannay, Indiana University Press, 1995; Speaking Minds: Interviews with Twenty Eminent Cognitive Scientists, edited by Peter Baumgartner and Sabine Payr, Princeton University Press, 1995; Expertise in Nursing Practice: Caring, Clinical Judgment, and Ethics, edited by Patricia A. Benner, Christine A. Tanner, and Catherine A. Chesla, Springer Publishing, 1996; Naturalistic Decision Making, edited by Caroline E. Zsambo and Gary Klein, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1997; The Digital Phoenix: How Computers Are Changing Philosophy, edited by T. W. Bynum and J. H. Moor, Blackwell, 1998; Perspective on Embodiment: The Intersections of Nature and Culture, edited by Gail Weiss and Honi Fern Haber, Routledge, 1999; and Apprenticeship: Learning from Social Practices, edited by K. Nielsen and S. Kvale, Hans Reitzels Forlag, 1999.

Author of forward for Ways of the Hand: A Rewritten Account, by David Sudnow, MIT Press (Cambridge, MA), 2001. Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Philosophical Review, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Review of Metaphysics, Creative Computing, Raritan, Technology Review, Social Research, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, International Journal of Philosophical Studies, Inquiry, Times Literary Supplement, and Vanity Fair. Member of board of editors, Selected Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, Martin Nijhoff Press, 1989—, and Journal of Computing and Society, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, 1989—; associate editor, Series on Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, Indiana University Press, 1989—; member of editorial board, Neue Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie, 1990—, and Bildungsräme digitaler Welten, 1999—; member of international editorial committee, Areté, 1997—. Several of Dreyfus's works have been translated into other languages, including Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, Yugoslavian, German, French, and Chinese.

SIDELIGHTS: Philosophy professor Hubert L. Dreyfus has become well known for his arguments against the possibilities that artificial intelligence (AI) will ever equal the intelligence and reasoning abilities of human beings. He first delved deeply into the field of AI while doing research at the RAND Corp. that would later form the basis for his 1965 book, Alchemy and Artificial Intelligence. But it was with his What Computers Can't Do: A Critique of Artificial Reason that he gained the most notoriety among proponents of AI. Here Dreyfus argues that reducing intelligence into symbolic representations, as AI designers were attempting, simply has no chance of reproducing how human thought processes work, and that those who espoused that it could be done were naive about how human intelligence works. Although Dreyfus was initially criticized by AI proponents, later research showed his position justified, and AI researchers began studying philosophy and seeking out more complex models than the older symbolic method. In 1992, Dreyfus revised his then-twenty-year-old text as What Computers Still Can't Do: A Critique of Artificial Reason, which takes into account developments in computer technology since the book's original publication.

Dreyfus furthered his main theme about AI with Mind over Machine: The Power of Human Intuition and Expertise in the Era of the Computer, which he wrote with his brother Stuart E. Dreyfus. As Jeff Meer noted in Psychology Today about this title, "Using clearly reasoned arguments, [the authors] conclude that the goal of the artificial-intelligence, or AI, movement, trying to make computers work out solutions to problems the way that human experts do, is both a philosophical and a practical impossibility." The reviewer comments that the authors' "urge for restraint is a refreshing change from the unbridled optimism that seems to surround AI."

With On the Internet, Dreyfus yet again presents arguments against the potential equivalence of computer intelligence, taking apart the hopes of AI enthusiasts that "the long range promise of the Net is that each of us will soon be able to transcend the limits imposed on us by our body." As Michael F. Winter commented in his review of the book for Library Quarterly, "In a series of engagingly argued chapters, Dreyfus shows that this is a most unlikely prospect." This is the case for a number of reasons, says Dreyfus, including the fact that AI does not take into account how people need a sense of their physical bodies to retain a sense of reality, that existing in a virtual reality would deprive humans of a "sense of moral risk," and because such an existence would prevent humans from developing "advanced cognitive skills," among other reasons. While Dreyfus suggests that AI could be useful as an aid in cognition, he concludes, as he has consistently done so throughout his work, that the separation of the human mind/body dualism compromises the ability to reason and intuit by separating the thought process from the context of reality.

Dreyfus once told CA: "I write because I am a teacher. Teaching helps me clarify and test my ideas, my line of argument, and writing is the natural thing to do afterward." He added, "At the moment my attention and energy are more than ever focused on the world of Artificial Intelligence. I consider myself to be applying phenomenology to determine the place of computers in our culture."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

books

Dreyfus, Hubert L., On the Internet, Routledge (New York, NY), 2001.

periodicals

Book World, January 23, 1972.

Chicago Tribune, September 4, 1986.

Comparative Literature, spring, 1986.

Library Journal, May 1, 1991, David Gordon, review of Being-in-the-World: A Commentary on Heidegger's Being and Time, p. 78; May 1, 1993, Edward J. Valauskas, review of What Computers Still Can't Do: A Critique of Artificial Reason, p. 111.

Library Quarterly, April, 2002, Michael F. Winter, review of On the Internet, p. 253.

London Review of Books, November 4, 1982; November 1, 1984.

New York Review of Books, November 15, 1973.

Psychology Today, July, 1986, Jeff Meer, review of Mind over Machine: The Power of Human Intuition and Expertise in the Era of the Computer.

Teaching Philosophy, March, 2004, Peter Ludlow, review of On the Internet, p. 72.

Times Literary Supplement, July 15, 1983; January 17, 2003, Andrew Morton, "Engine Trouble," review of On the Internet, p. 27.

USA Today, July 25, 1986.*