Resumo

ILCIC, Andrés  e  GARCIA, Pío. Modelling Strategies in Alan Turing: Terms and Concepts of Machine. Tópicos (México) [online]. 2020, n.58, pp.135-155.  Epub 30-Maio-2020. ISSN 0188-6649.  https://doi.org/10.21555/top.v0i58.1090.

In 1936, Alan Turing proposed the notion of an automated machine as a model of the computation performed by a human being while only being aided by mechanical resources. Still, it seems that much more can be said about Turing’s own concep- tion of machines in the scope of his later work, both termino- logically and conceptually. In this paper we present the terms he used that refer to machines and that according to our under- standing are important to give an account of Turing’s concerns and the problems he tackled with after his first recourse to the notion of machine during the late nineteen-thirties. Exploring his usage of such terms we show how it is possible to see an enlargement or extension towards a general notion of machine from the very first automated machine. At the same time, we identify in his work a modelling attitude or stance in which ma- chines can be used as a way to understand and explain a natural or abstract phenomenon.

Palavras-chave : Alan Turing; machine; modelling; computation; epistemology.