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Cyhist Jul 9 1996 A
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Date: Tue, 9 Jul 1996 12:11:15 -0700
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From: mwl4@psu.edu (Mark Laskowski)
To: "Multiple recipients of list cpsr-history@cpsr.org" Subject: CM> Origins of the word "ghost in the machine."
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Sender: mwl4@psu.edu (Mark Laskowski)
Subject: Re: CM> Origins of the word "ghost in the machine."
Mr. Bennahum, Moderator:
There's a thread on the origins of the phrase "ghost in the
machine". What I know about computers, you could fit on the head of a pin.
But the origins of words and phrases intrigues me. I couldn't shake the
feeling that Nabokov had coined or used heavily the phrase in question.
But I wasn't sure, so I called my neighbor, Benjamin Pryor, into the
thread. Both Peter Martin and Hari Kunzru were on the right track. The
former with the idea that there was a connection to Ryle and the latter
with his idea that the phrase comes from a book criticizing Descartes.
Here's what Ben has to say:
Mark:
Here's your answer: Gilbert Ryle coined the phrase in his 1949 _The
Concept of Mind_. His index has 17 references to the phrase. Here's the
first in which he introduces it:
"...I shall often speak [of the official theory of the relation between the
mind and the body] with deliberate abusiveness, as 'the dogma of the Ghost
in the Machine'. I hope to prove that it is entirely false, and false not
in detail but in principle....It represents the facts of mental life as if
they belonged to one logical type or category...when they actually belong
to another."
There you have it. I know of no earlier reference to the phrase, and it is
not at all a perversion of 'deus ex machina'. Now the Nabakov connection
may not be innacurate, but if he said it he probably said it in "Pale Fire"
somewhere, and that wasn't written until after '49.....I THINK. I can't
find my copy of pale fire. I can't find any Nabakov, for that matter. But
I'll put my money on Ryle as the origin of the phrase.
Ryle, The Concept of Mind (Barnes and Noble, 1949).
See ya.
Mark Laskowski
Assitant Director of Station Development
Penn State Public Broadcasting
814.863.2606 voice
814.865.3145 fax
______________________________________________________________________
Reply-To: mwl4@psu.edu
Originator: cpsr-history@cpsr.org
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From: mwl4@psu.edu (Mark Laskowski)
To: "Multiple recipients of list cpsr-history@cpsr.org" Subject: CM> Origins of the word "ghost in the machine."
X-Listprocessor-Version: 9.1 -- List Server by Sunnyside Computing, Inc.
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X-UIDL: 836942527.010
Sender: mwl4@psu.edu (Mark Laskowski)
Subject: Re: CM> Origins of the word "ghost in the machine."
Mr. Bennahum, Moderator:
There's a thread on the origins of the phrase "ghost in the
machine". What I know about computers, you could fit on the head of a pin.
But the origins of words and phrases intrigues me. I couldn't shake the
feeling that Nabokov had coined or used heavily the phrase in question.
But I wasn't sure, so I called my neighbor, Benjamin Pryor, into the
thread. Both Peter Martin and Hari Kunzru were on the right track. The
former with the idea that there was a connection to Ryle and the latter
with his idea that the phrase comes from a book criticizing Descartes.
Here's what Ben has to say:
Mark:
Here's your answer: Gilbert Ryle coined the phrase in his 1949 _The
Concept of Mind_. His index has 17 references to the phrase. Here's the
first in which he introduces it:
"...I shall often speak [of the official theory of the relation between the
mind and the body] with deliberate abusiveness, as 'the dogma of the Ghost
in the Machine'. I hope to prove that it is entirely false, and false not
in detail but in principle....It represents the facts of mental life as if
they belonged to one logical type or category...when they actually belong
to another."
There you have it. I know of no earlier reference to the phrase, and it is
not at all a perversion of 'deus ex machina'. Now the Nabakov connection
may not be innacurate, but if he said it he probably said it in "Pale Fire"
somewhere, and that wasn't written until after '49.....I THINK. I can't
find my copy of pale fire. I can't find any Nabakov, for that matter. But
I'll put my money on Ryle as the origin of the phrase.
Ryle, The Concept of Mind (Barnes and Noble, 1949).
See ya.
Mark Laskowski
Assitant Director of Station Development
Penn State Public Broadcasting
814.863.2606 voice
814.865.3145 fax
______________________________________________________________________
