Overview

 

As a subject for philosophical investigation computing has a long history (including the work of such figures as Leibniz and Turing). With the rapid technological progress of electronic computing since the mid-20th century we have seen the emergence of much deeper and broader interactions between computing and philosophy, although the scope, and need, for such interactions has not yet been widely recognised. For example, computing is contributing to classical philosophical topics such as the nature of mind, intelligence, agency, the varieties of logic, and how representation "works". At the same time the phenomenon of computing itself calls out for sustained philosophical attention to new problems such as the nature of software, the nature of the "science" of computing as a discipline, the relationship between personal worlds and virtual worlds, and the significance of computer-based communications for personal identity. Indeed, the (by no means exhaustive list) of topics noted below demonstrate this. Both philosophy and computing stand to benefit from this continuing dialogue, particularly where it leads to investigation and creative responses to traditional problems in each subject. In the case of areas such as cognitive science and ambient intelligence, for instance, the pace of contemporary technological innovation requires immediate philosophical analysis, if it is to take account of important broader issues.

 

征文主题(但不限于以下所列)

 

Cognitive science;

 

Artificial intelligence, The Turing test, machine understanding.

 

Artificial life;

 

Computational biology;

 

Simulation of behaviour and agency;

 

Ambient intelligence;

 

Biosemiotics;

 

Constructivism;

 

Second order cybernetics;

 

Enactivism and sensorimotor theories of perception;

 

Information and computer ethics;

 

Nanotechnology ethics;

 

Computer-mediated communication;

 

Metaphysics (emergence, formal ontology, network structures, etc.);

 

Philosophy of information / technology;

 

Robotics;

 

Computer-based modelling

 

Varieties of logic, formal and informal

 

Foundations of computing

 

Virtual reality, Virtual identity.

 

Important Dates

 

Submission deadline: 31 December 2010

 

Notification of acceptance: 31 January 2011

 

Camera ready copy due: TBA

 

Symposium: 4-7 April 2011

 

Registration: TBC