Philosophy and Computing

Philosophy and Computing
Author: Luciano Floridi
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2002-01-04
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1134679602

Philosophy and Computing explores each of the following areas of technology: the digital revolution; the computer; the Internet and the Web; CD-ROMs and Mulitmedia; databases, textbases, and hypertexts; Artificial Intelligence; the future of computing. Luciano Floridi shows us how the relationship between philosophy and computing provokes a wide range of philosophical questions: is there a philosophy of information? What can be achieved by a classic computer? How can we define complexity? What are the limits of quantam computers? Is the Internet an intellectual space or a polluted environment? What is the paradox in the Strong Artificial Intlligence program? Philosophy and Computing is essential reading for anyone wishing to fully understand both the development and history of information and communication technology as well as the philosophical issues it ultimately raises.

The Philosophy of Law Meets the Philosophy of Technology

The Philosophy of Law Meets the Philosophy of Technology
Author: Mireille Hildebrandt
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2011-08-26
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1136807675

Law, Human Agency and Autonomic Computing interrogates the legal implications of the notion and experience of human agency implied by the emerging paradigm of autonomic computing, and the socio-technical infrastructures it supports. The development of autonomic computing and ambient intelligence – self-governing systems – challenge traditional philosophical conceptions of human self-constitution and agency, with significant consequences for the theory and practice of constitutional self-government. Ideas of identity, subjectivity, agency, personhood, intentionality, and embodiment are all central to the functioning of modern legal systems. But once artificial entities become more autonomic, and less dependent on deliberate human intervention, criteria like agency, intentionality and self-determination, become too fragile to serve as defining criteria for human subjectivity, personality or identity, and for characterizing the processes through which individual citizens become moral and legal subjects. Are autonomic – yet artificial – systems shrinking the distance between (acting) subjects and (acted upon) objects? How ‘distinctively human’ will agency be in a world of autonomic computing? Or, alternatively, does autonomic computing merely disclose that we were never, in this sense, ‘human’ anyway? A dialogue between philosophers of technology and philosophers of law, this book addresses these questions, as it takes up the unprecedented opportunity that autonomic computing and ambient intelligence offer for a reassessment of the most basic concepts of law.

Philosophy of Computer Science

Philosophy of Computer Science
Author: William J. Rapaport
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 534
Release: 2023-03-21
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1119891906

A unique resource exploring the nature of computers and computing, and their relationships to the world. Philosophy of Computer Science is a university-level textbook designed to guide readers through an array of topics at the intersection of philosophy and computer science. Accessible to students from either discipline, or complete beginners to both, the text brings readers up to speed on a conversation about these issues, so that they can read the literature for themselves, form their own reasoned opinions, and become part of the conversation by contributing their own views. Written by a highly qualified author in the field, the book looks at some of the central questions in the philosophy of computer science, including: What is philosophy? (for readers who might be unfamiliar with it) What is computer science and its relationship to science and to engineering? What are computers, computing, algorithms, and programs?(Includes a line-by-line reading of portions of Turing’s classic 1936 paper that introduced Turing Machines, as well as discussion of the Church-Turing Computability Thesis and hypercomputation challenges to it) How do computers and computation relate to the physical world? What is artificial intelligence, and should we build AIs? Should we trust decisions made by computers? A companion website contains annotated suggestions for further reading and an instructor’s manual. Philosophy of Computer Science is a must-have for philosophy students, computer scientists, and general readers who want to think philosophically about computer science.

The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Computing and Information

The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Computing and Information
Author: Luciano Floridi
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 392
Release: 2008-04-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0470756764

This Guide provides an ambitious state-of-the-art survey of the fundamental themes, problems, arguments and theories constituting the philosophy of computing. A complete guide to the philosophy of computing and information. Comprises 26 newly-written chapters by leading international experts. Provides a complete, critical introduction to the field. Each chapter combines careful scholarship with an engaging writing style. Includes an exhaustive glossary of technical terms. Ideal as a course text, but also of interest to researchers and general readers.

The Philosophy of Computer Games

The Philosophy of Computer Games
Author: John Richard Sageng
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2012-07-10
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9400742495

Computer games have become a major cultural and economic force, and a subject of extensive academic interest. Up until now, however, computer games have received relatively little attention from philosophy. Seeking to remedy this, the present collection of newly written papers by philosophers and media researchers addresses a range of philosophical questions related to three issues of crucial importance for understanding the phenomenon of computer games: the nature of gameplay and player experience, the moral evaluability of player and avatar actions, and the reality status of the gaming environment. By doing so, the book aims to establish the philosophy of computer games as an important strand of computer games research, and as a separate field of philosophical inquiry. The book is required reading for anyone with an academic or professional interest in computer games, and will also be of value to readers curious about the philosophical issues raised by contemporary digital culture.

Computational Artifacts

Computational Artifacts
Author: Raymond Turner
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2018-07-11
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 3662555654

The philosophy of computer science is concerned with issues that arise from reflection upon the nature and practice of the discipline of computer science. This book presents an approach to the subject that is centered upon the notion of computational artefact. It provides an analysis of the things of computer science as technical artefacts. Seeing them in this way enables the application of the analytical tools and concepts from the philosophy of technology to the technical artefacts of computer science. With this conceptual framework the author examines some of the central philosophical concerns of computer science including the foundations of semantics, the logical role of specification, the nature of correctness, computational ontology and abstraction, formal methods, computational epistemology and explanation, the methodology of computer science, and the nature of computation. The book will be of value to philosophers and computer scientists.

A Philosophy of Computer Art

A Philosophy of Computer Art
Author: Dominic Lopes
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2009-09-10
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1135277435

In A Philosophy of Computer Art Dominic Lopes argues that computer art challenges some of the basic tenets of traditional ways of thinking about and making art and that to understand computer art we need to place particular emphasis on terms such as ‘interactivity’ and ‘user’.

Current Issues in Computing and Philosophy

Current Issues in Computing and Philosophy
Author: A. Briggle
Publisher: IOS Press
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2008-06-20
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1607503433

The theme of this volume is the multi-faceted ‘computational turn’ that is occurring through the interaction of the disciplines of philosophy and computing. In computer and information sciences, there are significant conceptual and methodological questions that require reflection and analysis. Moreover, digital, information and communication technologies have had tremendous impact on society, which raises further philosophical questions. This book tries to facilitate the task to continuously work to ensure that its diversity of perspectives and methods proves a source of strength and collaboration rather than a source of instability and disintegration. The first three contributions explore the phenomenon of virtual worlds. The next four focus on robots and artificial agents. Then a group of chapters discusses the relation between human mentality and information processing in computers and the final section covers a broad range of issues at the interface of computers and society.

Thinking Machines and the Philosophy of Computer Science

Thinking Machines and the Philosophy of Computer Science
Author: Jordi Vallverdú
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 461
Release: 2010-01-01
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1616920157

"This book offers a high interdisciplinary exchange of ideas pertaining to the philosophy of computer science, from philosophical and mathematical logic to epistemology, engineering, ethics or neuroscience experts and outlines new problems that arise with new tools"--Provided by publisher.

Philosophy and Computer Science

Philosophy and Computer Science
Author: Timothy Colburn
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2015-05-20
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317462823

Colburn (computer science, U. of Minnesota-Duluth) has a doctorate in philosophy and an advanced degree in computer science; he's worked as a philosophy professor, a computer programmer, and a research scientist in artificial intelligence. Here he discusses the philosophical foundations of artificial intelligence; the new encounter of science and philosophy (logic, models of the mind and of reasoning, epistemology); and the philosophy of computer science (touching on math, abstraction, software, and ontology).