Part 1 of Essay
1) Thinking is the hallmark of understanding. 2) Only special machines can think. 3) If something can think it can understand. 4) Only special machines that can think can understand. 5) "Mental" states and their resulting actions are products of the center of activity (brain). 6) To understan ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... man linking Chinese characters and appearing to know the language, but in reality the man is just following the instructions given to him ( the program). This example serves well to explain how although a computer can look like it understands a story, it can do no more than "go through the motions." Of course such a definitive standpoint on an issue as controversial as the capacity of an AI to understand will draw many critics. The criticism of his theory that I find to be the most credible is The Other ....