Showing papers on "Philosophy of computer science published in 2007"

The Philosophy of Philosophy

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Experimental philosophy and philosophical intuition

Abstract: The topic is experimental philosophy as a naturalistic movement, and its bearing on the value of intuitions in philosophy. This paper explores first how the movement might bear on philosophy more generally, and how it might amount to something novel and promising. Then it turns to one accomplishment repeatedly claimed for it already: namely, the discrediting of armchair intuitions as used in philosophy.

Analytic epistemology and experimental philosophy

Abstract: It has been standard philosophical practice in analytic philosophy to employ intuitions generated in response to thought-experiments as evidence in the evaluation of philosophical claims. In part as a response to this practice, an exciting new movement –experimental philosophy– has recently emerged. This movement is unified behind both a common methodology and a common aim: the application of methods of experimental psychology to the study of the nature of intuitions. In this paper, we will introduce two different views concerning the relationship that holds between experimental philosophy and the future of standard philosophical practice (what we call, the proper foundation view and the restrictionist view), discuss some of the more interesting and important results obtained by proponents of both views, and examine the pressure these results put on analytic philosophers to reform standard philosophical practice. We will also defend experimental philosophy from some recent objections, suggest future directions for work in experimental philosophy, and suggest what future lines of epistemological response might be available to those wishing to defend analytic epistemology from the challenges posed by experimental philosophy.

The past and future of experimental philosophy

Abstract: Experimental philosophy is the name for a recent movement whose participants use the methods of experimental psychology to probe the way people think about philosophical issues and then examine how the results of such studies bear on traditional philosophical debates. Given both the breadth of the research being carried out by experimental philosophers and the controversial nature of some of their central methodological assumptions, it is of no surprise that their work has recently come under attack. In this paper we respond to some criticisms of experimental philosophy that have recently been put forward by Antti Kauppinen. Unlike the critics of experimental philosophy, we do not think the fledgling movement either will or should fall before it has even had a chance to rise up to explain what it is, what it seeks to do (and not to do), and exactly how it plans to do it. Filling in some of the salient details is the main goal of the present paper.

Three Paradigms of Computer Science

Abstract: We examine the philosophical disputes among computer scientists concerning methodological, ontological, and epistemological questions: Is computer science a branch of mathematics, an engineering discipline, or a natural science? Should knowledge about the behaviour of programs proceed deductively or empirically? Are computer programs on a par with mathematical objects, with mere data, or with mental processes? We conclude that distinct positions taken in regard to these questions emanate from distinct sets of received beliefs or paradigms within the discipline: The rationalist paradigm, which was common among theoretical computer scientists, defines computer science as a branch of mathematics, treats programs on a par with mathematical objects, and seeks certain, a priori knowledge about their "correctness" by means of deductive reasoning. The technocratic paradigm, promulgated mainly by software engineers and has come to dominate much of the discipline, defines computer science as an engineering discipline, treats programs as mere data, and seeks probable, a posteriori knowledge about their reliability empirically using testing suites. The scientific paradigm, prevalent in the branches of artificial intelligence, defines computer science as a natural (empirical) science, takes programs to be entities on a par with mental processes, and seeks a priori and a posteriori knowledge about them by combining formal deduction and scientific experimentation. We demonstrate evidence corroborating the tenets of the scientific paradigm, in particular the claim that program-processes are on a par with mental processes. We conclude with a discussion in the influence that the technocratic paradigm has been having over computer science.

Some Problems of Philosophy: A Beginning of an Introduction to Philosophy

Abstract: "Philosophy, beginning in wonder, as Plato and Aristotle said, is able to fancy everything different from what it is. It sees the familiar as if it were strange, and the strange as if it were familiar. It can take things up and lay them down again. Its mind is full of air that plays round every subject. It rouses us from our native dogmatic slumber and breaks up our caked prejudices. Historically it has always been a sort of fecundation of four different human interests, science, poetry, religion, and logic, by one another. It has sought by hard reasoning for results emotionally valuable. To have some contact with it, to catch its influence, is thus good for both literary and scientific students. By its poetry it appeals to literary minds; but its logic stiffens them up and remedies their softness. By its logic it appeals to the scientific; but softens them by its other aspects, and saves them from too dry a technicality. Both types of student ought to get from philosophy a livelier spirit, more air, more mental background."--William James, Some Problems of Philosophy With the clarity that James deemed obligatory, Some Problems of Philosophy outlines his theory of perception. The early chapters expose the defects of intellectualism and monism and the advantages of empiricism and pluralism. The novelty that enters into concrete perceptual experience, and that is disallowed by the rationalizing intellect, suggests exciting possibilities. Denied any absolute truth in an ever-changing world, privy to only a piece of the truth at any given moment, the individual can, with faith and good will, help create order out of chaos. Some Problems in Philosophy, published posthumously, represents an important advance in William James's thought. Ellen Kappy Suckiel, a professor of philosophy at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is the author of The Pragmatic Philosophy of William James and Pragmatism and Religious Belief: A Study of the Philosophy of William James.

Staging Philosophy: Intersections of Theater, Performance, and Philosophy

Abstract: This work investigates the fundamental issues in theater and performance from a wide range philosophical perspectives. The fifteen original essays in "Staging Philosophy" make useful connections between the discipline of philosophy and the fields of theater and performance, using these insights to develop new theories about theater. Each of the contributors, leading scholars in the fields of performance and philosophy, breaks new ground, presents new arguments, and offers new theories that will pave the way for future scholarship. "Staging Philosophy" raises issues of critical importance by providing case studies of various philosophical movements and schools of thought, from analytic philosophy to phenomenology, and from deconstruction to critical realism. While some essays challenge assertions made by critics and historians of theater and performance, others analyze the assumptions of manifestos that prescribe how practitioners should go about creating texts and performances. "Staging Philosophy" will provoke, stimulate, engage, and ultimately bring theater to the foreground of intellectual inquiry while it inspires further philosophical investigation into theater and performance.

The Importance of Homology for Biology and Philosophy

Abstract: Editors' introduction to the special issue on homology (Biology and Philosophy Vol. 22, Issue 5, 2007)

An introduction to computer science for non-majors using principles of computation

Abstract: In this paper, the design and implementation of a novel introductory computer science course for non-majors is presented. This course focuses on the major contributions in computer science from the perspective of the process of computation. This course differs from most introductory courses in computer science in that it does not include programming using a computer programming language. Students focus on algorithms and the principle of computational thinking, and use a flowchart simulator to experiment with various short algorithms and build simple computer games without dealing with programming language syntax. Steadily increasing enrollments and interest from various departments on campus indicate that this course has become a successful addition to our introductory CS offerings.

Developing epistemologically empowered teachers: examining the role of philosophy of chemistry in teacher education

Abstract: History and philosophy of science have been widely promoted in science teacher education for several decades. However the application of themes from philosophy of science in science teacher education has been rather broad and not particular relative to the domain-specific features of the science in question. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the new field of philosophy of chemistry can contribute to science teacher education. Since the beginning of the 1990s, philosophy of chemistry has emerged as a relatively new branch of philosophy of science examining the distinctive nature of chemical knowledge. Some implications of this domain in chemical education have been investigated although the research territory in this area remains underdeveloped. The paper is intended to contribute to this area of research by focusing on a particular theme, the microscopic/macroscopic relationship (or the so-called ‘supervenience’ problem) in the context of models and modelling. Literature review of students’ and teachers’ understanding of models and modelling in chemistry highlights the importance of incorporating the epistemological aspects of related chemical concepts. The implications for teacher education are discussed.

Philosophy of Science A-Z

Abstract: An alphabetically arranged guide to the philosophy of science. While philosophy of science has always been an integral part of philosophy, since the beginning of the twentieth century it has developed its own structure and its fair share of technical vocabulary and problems. Philosophy of Science A-Z gives concise, accurate and illuminating accounts of key positions, concepts, arguments and figures in the philosophy of science. It aids understanding of current debates, explains their historical development and connects them with broader philosophical issues. It presupposes little prior knowledge of philosophy of science and is equally useful to the beginner, the more advanced student and the general reader. Readers will find in it illuminating explanations, careful analysis, relevant examples, open problems and, last but not least, precise arguments. Philosophy of science is a flourishing discipline and Philosophy of Science A to Z is a practical and imaginative way into and through it.

General philosophy of science : focal issues

Abstract: Scientists use concepts and principles that are partly specific for their subject matter, but they also share part of them with colleagues working in different fields. Compare the biological notion of a 'natural kind' with the general notion of 'confirmation' of a hypothesis by certain evidence. Or compare the physical principle of the 'conservation of energy' and the general principle of 'the unity of science'. Scientists agree that all such notions and principles aren't as crystal clear as one might wish. An important task of the philosophy of the special sciences, such as philosophy of physics, of biology and of economics, to mention only a few of the many flourishing examples, is the clarification of such subject specific concepts and principles. Similarly, an important task of 'general' philosophy of science is the clarification of concepts like 'confirmation' and principles like 'the unity of science'.It is evident that clarification of concepts and principles only makes sense if one tries to do justice, as much as possible, to the actual use of these notions by scientists, without however following this use slavishly. That is, occasionally a philosopher may have good reasons for suggesting to scientists that they should deviate from a standard use. Frequently, this amounts to a plea for differentiation in order to stop debates at cross-purposes due to the conflation of different meanings. While the special volumes of the series of "Handbooks of the Philosophy of Science" address topics relative to a specific discipline, this general volume deals with focal issues of a general nature.After an editorial introduction about the dominant method of clarifying concepts and principles in philosophy of science, called explication, the first five chapters deal with the following subjects. Laws, theories, and research programs as units of empirical knowledge (Theo Kuipers), various past and contemporary perspectives on explanation (Stathis Psillos), the evaluation of theories in terms of their virtues (Ilkka Niiniluto), and the role of experiments in the natural sciences, notably physics and biology (Allan Franklin), and their role in the social sciences, notably economics (Wenceslao Gonzalez).In the subsequent three chapters there is even more attention to various positions and methods that philosophers of science and scientists may favor: ontological, epistemological, and methodological positions (James Ladyman), reduction, integration, and the unity of science as aims in the sciences and the humanities (William Bechtel and Andrew Hamilton), and logical, historical and computational approaches to the philosophy of science (Atocha Aliseda and Donald Gillies). The volume concludes with the much debated question of demarcating science from nonscience (Martin Mahner) and the rich European-American history of the philosophy of science in the 20th century (Friedrich Stadler). This title includes comprehensive coverage of the philosophy of science written by leading philosophers in this field. It features clear style of writing for an interdisciplinary audience - No specific pre-knowledge required.

What is Organization

Abstract: This book is about the relation between philosophy and organization in so far as it concerns organization studies The book, then, revolves round the interplay between philosophy, organization and organization studies The purpose is both to ask philosophically the question ‘What is organization?’ and to question the importance of this kind of philosophical questioning for the field of organization studies The central argument of the book is that philosophy performs two radically different roles in organization studies, each based upon a different conception of philosophy The first role corresponds to the under-labourer conception of philosophy in which philosophy is of value because it performs functions for organization studies: philosophy offers different paradigms, methods or frameworks in which one can perform organizational research The second, contrasting, conception of philosophy is philosophy as the creation of concepts In this conception, which is presented through a reading of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, philosophy has a positive dimension which is lost when it is understood in terms of its usefulness for the social sciences Philosophy of organization, in this sense, means asking the question ‘What is organization?’ philosophically, ie by creating concepts of organization It is this second conception of philosophy that is developed in the book; by asking what it is (part I) and by exploring philosophy of organization through readings of Spinoza, Robert Cooper and Michel Foucault (part II) Taken together, the two parts argue for a more important role of philosophy of organization in organization studies, as distinguished from a philosophy for organization studies

Experimental philosophy and philosophical significance

Abstract: Kauppinen argues that experimental philosophy cannot help us to address questions about the semantics of our concepts and that it therefore has little to contribute to the discipline of philosophy. This argument raises fascinating questions in the philosophy of language, but it is simply a red herring in the present context. Most researchers in experimental philosophy were not trying to resolve semantic questions in the first place. Their aim was rather to address a more traditional sort of question, the sort of question that was regarded as absolutely central in the period before the rise of analytic philosophy.

Is evidence-based practice diverse enough? Philosophy of science considerations.

Abstract: In its policy rationale for evidence-based practice in psychology (EBPP), the APA Presidential Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice claims to have constituted itself with "scientists and practitioners from a wide range of perspectives and traditions, reflecting the diverse perspectives within the field" (p. 273). We applaud this attention to diversity but contend that an entire perspective of the debate was omitted in the Task Force's newly approved policy and its underlying report. The failure to consider a philosophy of science perspective led the Task Force to make a number of epistemological assumptions that are not based on evidence or rationale and that thus violate the very spirit of evidence-based decision making. In this comment, we reveal a few of these assumptions and discuss their detrimental consequences.

Action research, stories and practical philosophy

Abstract: This collaborative piece written by a philosopher/action researcher and an action researcher/philosopher explores the use of practical philosophy as a tool in action research. The paper explores the connection to be made between what we refer to, roughly, as ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ (while never losing hold of either). The connection is made around ideas of ‘practical philosophy’ and social justice. The authors suggest that ‘practical philosophy’ might develop as a ‘philosophy in human practices’. It begins from the understanding that philosophy is rooted in social practice, with philosophy in educational practices being rooted in educational practice. The paper goes on to explore the use of ‘little stories’ as a way into the diversity of significant particularities. Finally the links are drawn with action research. It is argued that the process of reconceptualisation is itself an action that will make a difference as part of a series of action research cycles.

Problems in the ontology of computer programs

Abstract: As a first step in the larger project of charting the ontology of computer programs, we pose three central questions: (1) Can programs, hardware, and metaprograms be organized into a meaningful taxonomy? (2) To what ontology are computer programs committed? (3) What explains the proliferation of programming languages and how do they come about? Taking the complementary perspectives software engineering and mathematical logic, we take inventory of programs and related objects and conclude that the notions of abstraction and concretization take a central role in this investigation.

Whence Philosophy of Biology

Abstract: A consensus exists among contemporary philosophers of biology about the history of their field. According to the received view, mainstream philosophy of science in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s focused on physics and general epistemology, neglecting analyses of the ‘special sciences’, including biology. The subdiscipline of philosophy of biology emerged (and could only have emerged) after the decline of logical positivism in the 1960s and 70s. In this paper, I present bibliometric data from four major philosophy of science journals (Erkenntnis, Philosophy of Science, Synthese, and the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science), covering 1930-1959, which challenge this view.

The Philosophy of Social Science: Metaphysical and Empirical

Abstract: Ontological debates have always been prominent in the philosophy of social science. Philosophers have typically conceived of such debates as pre-scientific attempts to reform social scientific practice, rather than as post-scientific reflections on a firm body of scientific knowledge. Two celebrated contemporary research programs in social ontology – collective intentionality and evolutionary game theory – also follow this approach. In this paper I illustrate their central elements and criticize their weak empirical foundations. I finish by reviewing some work that combines empirical evidence with theoretical reflection, and suggest that it constitutes the way forward in the philosophy of social science.

Philosophy and Organization

Abstract: Introduction Part 1: Images 1. Organization: Recovering Philosophy 2. The Uselessness of Philosophy 3. What is Philosophy of Organization? 4. Critique and Resistance: On the Necessity of Organizational Philosophy Part 2: Engagements 5. Ask not What Philosophy can do for Critical Management Studies 6. Reading Critical Theory 7. Why Feminist Ethics? 8. Race, Revolution and Organization Part 3: Illuminations 9. Workers of the World... Relax!: Introducing a Philosophy of Idleness to Organization Studies 10. Messing up Organizational Aesthetics 11. Singular Plurality and Organization 12. Double-Crossing the Landscapes of Philosophy: Conjoining the Transparency of `Things' with the Veil of Language 13. After Power: Artaaud and the Theatre of Cruelty

Reclaiming philosophy for educational research1

Abstract: The paper notes the decline in philosophy of education in educational studies from its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s. The explanation is manifold, but includes the more utilitarian and managerial concerns which find less room for the questioning of assumptions distinctive of philosophical enquiry. The paper then uses the Nuffield Review of 14–19 Education and Training to demonstrate the central importance of philosophical thinking if one is to pass from the ‘disguised nonsense’ to the ‘patent nonsense’ in much educational research, policy and practice.

Computation, Information, Cognition: The Nexus and the Liminal

Abstract: This book draws together a number of important strands in contemporary approaches to the philosophical and scientific questions that emerge when dealing with the issues of computing, information, cognition and the conceptual issues that arise at their intersections. It discovers and develops the connections at the borders and in the interstices of disciplines and debates, and presents a range of essays that deal with the currently vigorous concerns of the philosophy of information, ontology creation and control, bioinformation and biosemiotics, computational and post-computational approaches to the philosophy of cognitive science, computational linguistics, ethics, and education.

Know Your Discipline: Teaching the Philosophy of Computer Science

Abstract: Background Computer science is a relatively young discipline. Its birth can be traced to the 1940s, when wider academic interest in automatic computing was triggered by the construction of the first fully electronic, digital, Turing-complete computer, ENIAC, in 1945 and the concomitant birth of the stored-program paradigm (see, e.g., Aspray, 2000). It still took some 20 years for computer science to achieve a disciplinary identity distinct from fields such as mathematics, electrical engineering, physics, and logic (cf. Atchison et al., 1968; Rice & Rosen, 2004). Throughout the short history of electronic digital computing, there has been a great variety of approaches, definitions, and outlooks on computing as a discipline. Arguments about the content of the field, its methods, and its aims have sometimes been fierce, and the rapid pace of extension of the field has made it even harder to define computer science (see Tedre, 2006, pp. 255-351). Over the last 60 years, researchers in the fields of computing have brought together a variety of scientific disciplines and research methodologies. The resulting science--computer science--offers a variety of ways for explaining phenomena; most notably it offers computational models and algorithms. The increased investments in research efforts in computer science have been paralleled by the growth of the number of computing-centered fields, such as computer engineering, scientific computation, electrical engineering, decision support systems, architectural design, and software engineering. Although interdisciplinarity has made the development of computer science possible in the first place (cf. Bowles, 1996; Puchta, 1996; Williams, 1985, p. 209), it also poses a very real challenge to computer scientists. Firstly, it is not certain what kinds of topics should be considered to be computer science proper. The attempts to describe computer science are invariably either very narrow and applicable to only some subfields of computer science (e.g., Dijkstra, 1974), or so broad that they do not exclude much (e.g., Newell, Perlis, & Simon, 1967). Secondly, it is very difficult to come up with an overarching set of rules of how computer science research should ideally be done. The subjects that computer scientists study include, for instance, programs, logic, formulae, people, complexity, machines, usability, and systems. An overarching set of rules for computer science research should cover research in fields such as software engineering, complexity theory, usability, the psychology of programming, management information systems, virtual reality, and architectural design. It is uncertain if an overarching, all-inclusive definition of computer science is possible, and if such definition is even necessary. It is important for computer scientists to understand the challenges (and possibilities) that the vast diversity of computer science research can cause. Many disputes about how computer scientists should work have their roots in different conceptions about what computer science actually is (cf. Denning et al., 1989). Many misunderstandings and controversies between scientists from different branches of computer science might be avoided by their understanding the research traditions within which people in those branches work. Even more importantly, computer scientists must know that the same approaches cannot be used with the whole variety of subjects that computer scientists study. Mathematical and computational models are precise and unambiguous, yet they are confined to the abstract world of mathematics and they fail to capture the richness of physical and social reality. Narratives and ethnographies are rich in dimension and sensitive to detail, yet equivocal and context-dependent. Narratives have little use in deriving formulae, and formal proofs have little explanatory power regarding usability. It has been argued that there are three particularly lucid traditions in computer science: the theoretical tradition, the empirical tradition, and the engineering tradition (cf. …

The Philosophy of Mathematics, Values and Keralese Mathematics

Abstract: This paper explores the philosophical significance of the Keralese and Indian subcontinent contribution to history of mathematics. Identifying the most accurate genesis and trajectory of mathematical ideas in history that current knowledge allows should be the goal of every history of mathematics, and is consistent with any philosophy of mathematics. I argue for the need of a broader conceptualization of philosophy of than the traditional emphasis on scholastic enquiries into epistemology and ontology. For such an emphasis has been associated, though I add need not necessarily be so, with an ideological position that devalues non-European contributions to history of mathematics. The philosophy of mathematics needs to be broad enough to recognise the salient features of the discipline it reflects upon, namely mathematics.

Minds and computers : an introduction to the philosophy of artificial intelligence

Abstract: Could a computer have a mind? What kind of machine would this be? Exactly what do we mean by 'mind' anyway? The notion of the 'intelligent' machine, whilst continuing to feature in numerous entertaining and frightening fictions, has also been the focus of a serious and dedicated research tradition. Reflecting on these fictions, and on the research tradition that pursues 'Artificial Intelligence', raises a number of vexing philosophical issues. Minds and Computers introduces readers to these issues by offering an engaging, coherent, and highly approachable interdisciplinary introduction to the Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence. Readers are presented with introductory material from each of the disciplines which constitute Cognitive Science: Philosophy, Neuroscience, Psychology, Computer Science, and Linguistics. Throughout, readers are encouraged to consider the implications of this disparate and wide-ranging material for the possibility of developing machines with minds. And they can expect to develop a foundation for philosophically responsible engagement with A.I., a sound understanding of Philosophy of Mind and of computational theory, and a good feel for cross-disciplinary analysis. Features: *A solid foundation in the Philosophy of Mind *A broadly interdisciplinary purview *A directed philosophical focus *A clear and accessible explanation of technical material with abundant exercises *A glossary of terms