Computers and Philosophy

Exploring Wolfram’s Notion of Computational Irreducibility with a Two-Dimensional Cellular Automaton

by Anthony Beavers

Co-authored with Drew Reisinger, Taylor Martin, Mason Blankenship, Christopher Harrison and Jesse Squires

The notion of computational irreducibility says that a problem is computationally irreducible when the only way to... more The notion of computational irreducibility says that a problem is computationally irreducible when the only way to solve it is to traverse a trajectory through a state space step by step using no shortcut. In this paper, we will explore this notion by addressing whether computational irreducibility is a consequence of how a particular problem is represented. To do so, we will examine two versions of a given game that are isomorphic representations of both the play space and the transition rules underlying the game. We will then develop a third isomorph of the play space with transition rules that seem to only be determined in a computationally irreducible manner. As a consequence, it would seem that representing the play space differently in the third isomorph introduces computational irreducibility into the game where it was previously lacking. If so, we will have shown that, in some cases at least, computational irreducibility depends on the representation of a given problem.

Software is an abstract artifact

by Nurbay Irmak

Studying Possibility of a Convergent Interpretation of Empirical Sciences on the Basis of the Concepts of Computation and Information

by Alireza Seghatoleslami

Extended Abstract of MA Thesis

Recent Developments in Computing and Philosophy

by Anthony Beavers

First Paragraph: Because the label "computing and philosophy" can seem like an ad hoc attempt to tie... more First Paragraph: Because the label "computing and philosophy" can seem like an ad hoc attempt to tie computing to philosophy, it is important to explain why it is not, what it studies (or does) and how it differs from research in, say, "computing and history," or "computing and biology". The American Association for History and Computing is "dedicated to the reasonable and productive marriage of history andcomputer technology for teaching, researching and representing history through scholarship and public history" (http://theaahc.org). More pervasive, work in computing and biology enjoys the convenient name of "bioinformatics...the science of using information to understand biology..., a subset of the larger field of computational biology, the application of quantitative analytical techniques in modeling biological systems (http://oreilly.com/catalog/bioskills/ chapter/ch01.html). The recent venture of the Association for Computing Machinery and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to publish the Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (TCBB) bears witness to the reach of computing and biology and underscores its objective. TCBB intends to report" archival research results related to the algorithmic, mathematical, statistical, and computational methods that are central in bioinformatics and computational biology; the development and testing of effective computer programs in bioinformatics; the development and optimization of biological databases; and important biological results that are obtained from the use of these methods, programs, and databases" (http://tcbb.acm.org).

Alan Turing: Mathematical Mechanist

by Anthony Beavers

First Paragraph: I live just off of Bell Road outside of Newburgh, Indiana, a small town of 3,000 people. A mile down... more First Paragraph: I live just off of Bell Road outside of Newburgh, Indiana, a small town of 3,000 people. A mile down the street Bell Road intersects with Telephone Road not as a modern reminder of a technology belonging to bygone days, but as testimony that this technology, now more than a century and a quarter old, is still with us. In an age that prides itself on its digital devices and in which the computer now equals the telephone as a medium of communication, it is easy to forget the debt we owe to an era that industrialized the flow of information, that the light bulb, to pick a singular example, which is useful for upgrading visual information we might otherwise overlook, nonetheless remains the most prevalent of all modern day information technologies. Edison’s light bulb, of course, belongs to a different order of informational devices than the computer, but not so the telephone, not entirely anyway.

Review of Philosophy and Computing: An Introduction by Luciano Floridi

by Anthony Beavers

First Paragraph: Luciano Floridi’s Philosophy and Computing: An Introduction is a survey of some important ideas that... more First Paragraph: Luciano Floridi’s Philosophy and Computing: An Introduction is a survey of some important ideas that ground the newly emerging area of philosophy known, thanks to Floridi, as the philosophy of information. It was written as a textbook for philosophy students interested in the digital age, but is probably more useful for postgraduates who want to investigate intersections between philosophy and computer science, information theory and ICT (information and communications technology). The book is divided into five independent chapters followed by a worthy, though impressionistic, afterthought under the title of the conclusion.

Review of Information: A Very Short Introduction by Luciano Floridi

by Anthony Beavers

First Paragraph: Pedagogical introductions do not lend themselves to a critical review of concepts, especially if they... more First Paragraph: Pedagogical introductions do not lend themselves to a critical review of concepts, especially if they are very short. Such texts can, however, be assessed on the basis of how well they present the scope of a research area. When that area is as broad as information itself, the task is tremendous. Thus, we know upfront, before opening the book, that it will have to be dense in places, and it is. Nonetheless, it represents a good and much needed cross-section of conceptions to get someone started in the area.

Bounded rationality in the social Sciences.

by J. Francisco Álvarez

with Javier Echeverría.

Responsabilidad, confianza y modelos humanos

by J. Francisco Álvarez

Isegoría, No 29 (2003):51-68 

Personal responsibility could be understood as a value that individuals try to satisfice instead to optimize. Usual... more Personal responsibility could be understood as a value that individuals try to satisfice instead to optimize. Usual dilemmas between rational choice and other processes linked both to our emotions and agency, are not actual dilemmas. We analyse personal responsibility and trust as two devices that contribute to build on a complementary view of rationality that overcome narrow notions. From Aristotle to Adam Smith there are philosophical insights that go round this topic. Our bounded rationality is an interwoven process that help us to elucidate three apparent dichotomies in moral studies very well exposed by Amartya Sen.

PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES AS MATHEMATICAL THEORIES

by Raymond Turner

Author(s): Ray Turner (University of Essex, United Kingdom)
Pages: 66-82 pp.
Source Title: Thinking Machines and the Philosophy of Computer Science: Concepts and Principles
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Jordi Vallverdú (Ed.) (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain)
Copyright: 2010

That computer science is somehow a mathematical activity was a view held by many of the pioneers of the subject,... more That computer science is somehow a mathematical activity was a view held by many of the pioneers of the subject, especially those who were concerned with its foundations. At face value it might mean that the actual activity of programming is a mathematical one. Indeed, at least in some form, this has been held. But here we explore a different gloss on it. We explore the claim that programming languages are (semantically) mathematical theories. This will force us to discuss the normative nature of semantics, the nature of mathematical theories, the role of theoretical computer science and the relationship between semantic theory and language design.

THE MEANING OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES

by Raymond Turner

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION
NEWSLETTER ON PHILOSOPHY AND COMPUTERS. VOL 9,1. FEATURED ARTICLE.

Abstract
A folklore view has it that programming languages get their semantic interpretations layer by layer,... more Abstract
A folklore view has it that programming languages get their semantic interpretations layer by layer, one language getting its interpretation in the next, until the bedrock of physical reality (physical machines) provides the final and actual mechanism of semantic interpretation. We argue, based upon the normative requirements of any semantic account, that this is a false picture. We further argue that, in any adequate semantic theory of a programming language, the denotations of its constructs must be taken to be mathematical objects.

SPECIFICATION

by Raymond Turner

Minds and Machines
DOI: 10.1007/s11023-011-9239-x

The specification and implementation of computational artefacts occurs throughout the discipline of computer science.... more The specification and implementation of computational artefacts occurs throughout the discipline of computer science. Consequently, unpacking its nature should constitute one of the core areas of the philosophy of computer science. This paper presents a conceptual analysis of the central role of specification in the discipline.

Fondamenti delle grammatiche adposizionali

by Federico Gobbo

L’interlinguistica come disciplina scientifica può essere ricondotta alla ricerca scientifica di Leibniz. Questo... more L’interlinguistica come disciplina scientifica può essere ricondotta alla ricerca scientifica di Leibniz. Questo articolo mostra come il percorso di ricerca di matematizzazione della conoscenza linguistica abbia una importante valenza cognitiva che viene resa esplicita tramite il formalismo delle grammatiche adposizionali.

Resumo. Interlingvistikon kiel scienca fako oni povas rilatigi al la scienca esplorado de Leibniz .Chi tiu artikolo montras kiel la esplor-itinero pri matematikigo de la lingvistika konaro havas gravan konivan valoron kiu eksplicitas per la formaligho nome adpoziciaj gramatikoj.

LogiLogi: Philosophy Beyond the Paper

by Wybo Wiersma

Ba-thesis for Philosophy

This paper sets out to show that philosophy has much to gain from the web, and explores what philosophy on the web... more This paper sets out to show that philosophy has much to gain from the web, and explores what philosophy on the web might be like. We argue that philosophers usage of the web will undeniably go beyond on-line journals, and the distribution of .pdf files. Historical attempts at making the web work for philosophy, and their limited success, are investigated and explained, such as the Xanadu and Discovery projects, and plain web-forums. LogiLogi, a working prototype of a philosophical discussion platform, is then introduced. LogiLogi is different from forums and wikis and tries to overcome their limitations. It does so by aiming for an informal middle-road between good conversations and journal-papers and by providing a form of quick, informal publication, peer-review, and annotation of short philosophical texts. The paper concludes with a tentative analysis of what philosophy on the web could be like, and how LogiLogi is tailored to such a conception of philosophy.

Le centre d’interdétermination, une esthétique de l’interactivité (2004)

by Chatonsky Gregory

Intermédialités, Canada, 2004