Relative to digital computation, analog computation has been neglected in the philosophical literature. To the extent that attention has been paid to analog computation, it has been misunderstood. The received view -- that analog computation has to do essentially with continuity -- is simply wrong, as shown by careful attention to historical examples of discontinuous, discrete analog computers. Instead of the received view, I develop an account of analog computation in terms of a particular type of analog representation that allows for discontinuity. This account thus characterizes all types of analog computation, whether continuous or discrete. Furthermore, the structure of this account can be generalized to other types of computation: analog computation essentially involves analog representation, whereas digital computation essentially involves digital representation. Besides being a necessary component of a complete philosophical understanding of computation in general, understanding analog computation is important for computational explanation in contemporary neuroscience and cognitive science.

中文翻译：

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模拟计算与表示

相对于数字计算，哲学文献中忽略了模拟计算。在某种程度上已经引起了人们对模拟计算的关注，这被误解了。收到的观点-模拟计算本质上与连续性有关-简直是错误的，正如对不连续，离散模拟计算机的历史示例的仔细关注所显示的那样。代替接收的视图，我根据允许不连续的特定类型的模拟表示来介绍模拟计算。因此，该帐户可以表征所有类型的模拟计算，无论是连续的还是离散的。此外，该帐户的结构可以推广到其他类型的计算：模拟计算本质上涉及模拟表示，而数字计算本质上涉及数字表示。一般而言，理解模拟计算除了是对计算进行完整的哲学理解的必要组成部分之外，对于当代神经科学和认知科学中的计算解释也很重要。