The following appeared in Volume 98, Number 1 (Fall, 1998) of the APA Newsletters

The CAP keynote was given by Selmer Bringsjord, who has drawn significant journalistic attention largely due to the authoring of Brutus.1, a short story writing program. Bill Uzgalis recorded a conversation with professor Bringsjord, an excerpt of which is provided in the Event Handlers section.

Education was the theme of WCP this year. Education always plays a significant role in CAP. This newsletter devotes a column to education, Teaching in Cyberspace edited by Ron Barnette. This issue boasts articles detailing four courses that use the internet. Three of the articles feature uses of the internet to augment class-room taught courses, one is a full web-based course, and Ron reports on the activities of a regional virtual university. Activity and sophistication in computer-based teaching is increasing and we can expect a steady flow of course reports and articles in this newsletter.

Robert Causey consistently roots out excellent web sites and expert philosophers to review them. Robert is chronicling the development of online academic journals with his Electronic Journals.

G.H. von Wright in a paper presented on video-tape at the XXth World Congress in Boston recalled that Bertrand Russell had said that the most important year in his life as a philosopher was 1900 and the most important event in that year the first World Congress of Philosophy in Paris. At that Congress Russell discovered Peano’s work which provides a neat formal system of notation for relations, reinforcing for Russell the importance of logic to philosophy. After returning to Britain (and a couple of years latter), Russell discovered the work of Frege (then largely unknown to contemporary philosophers) and thus began one of the major strands in the development of analytic philosophy. Clearly that World Congress had a significant impact on the history of philosophy in the twentieth century.

There was a good deal of stock taking and reflection about the state of the profession at the last World Congress of Philosophy to be held this century. One area of philosophy which is clearly healthy and growing centers around the interface of computers and philosophy. The annual APA Computers and Philosophy conference (CAP) held this year in Boston along with the XX World Congress of Philosophy (WCP), offered a pleasant feast of many dishes for philosophers concerned with the multiplicity of issues which tie philosophy and computers together. The following is a sampling of the feast.

The Thursday keynote address by Selmer Bringsjord (See Event Handlers this issue) "The Impact of Computing on Epistemology: Knowing Godel’s Mind Through Computation" argued that we could not know Godel’s mind through computation. David Anderson and John Barker’s presentation "Computer Simulations: Robots and Virtual Persons in Undergraduate Education: A Report on the PT project" resonated with Bringsjord’s talk by describing various fascinating uses of robots and virtual persons in presenting issues about philosophy of mind to undergraduates. On the research side, Catherine Womack’s "Church’s Thesis and Idealization in Mathematics" explored questions about the status of Church’s thesis and what it means to be a computable function.

The Friday keynote address by Randel Diepert, "The Impact of Computing on the Teaching of Logic" was a reflection on the nature and history of logic and suggestions for improvements in its pedagogy. Marvin Croy’s account of how he used records of the errors which his students made in doing deductive proofs on the computer to redesign the interface which they use to substantially improve their performance was a significant demonstration of the uses which computers can be put too in aiding the improvement of teaching. Robert Cavalier’s account of his use of his award winning Dax Cowart case also showed how technology and assessment can be linked to the improvement of teaching.

There were a variety of sessions relating to aspects of the World Wide Web. Kay Mathiesen discussed issues of privacy on the internet surrounding the use of cookies and Don Fallis explored ways in which people can help students and others to determine the quality of information provided on web sites. Anthony Beavers presentation on the 4th Tetralogy web site focused on the use of search engines to selectively collect information relevant to a particular topic. He argued that such search engines make a decentralized encyclopedia of philosophy a possibility. A number of other sections also focused on the history of philosophy on the web. Bill Uzgalis and Larry Hinman gave complementary presentations about using web sites with on-line text, or streaming audio and video to complement or record lecture series and conferences. Charles Est’s fine talk about the impact of the World Wide Web on other cultures, reported the developments at a conference on this subject which he attended after writing an article on this subject for the Newsletter on Philospophy and Computers (P&C Spring 1998).

The World Congress itself hosted a number of sessions which connected with and complemented CAP sessions. A number of CAP presenters - James H. Moore, the Chair of the APA Computers and Philosophy committee, Terry Bynum (Moore’s predecessor), Marvin Croy and Randall Dypert participated in a session "How Computers are Changing Philosophy." A session titled "Virtual and Augmented Reality Revolutionizing Education and Learning" suggested that philosophers are alive to the way in which computers are changing their profession and the university in general. Jim Moore, Jim Fetzer and John Searle’s session "Thinking and Computing" was a complement to Selmer Bringsjord’s CAP keynote. Moore arguing against Searle (and Bringsjord) that thinking is computational. Three sessions of Philosophy and Technology also complemented CAP themes as did several session on Cognitive Science. Ed Zalta, John Perry and two of their colleagues gave a talk about the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and Routledge gave a number of presentations of the CD which accompanies its new Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Since the theme of the World Congress was Paidea: Philosophy Educating Humanity—there were a number of sessions on teaching philosophy. Amongst these, Michael Await and Ronnie Littlejohn gave a demonstration of using the World Wide Web to supplement a regular classroom taught problem based introduction to philosophy course. There was another section on Philosophical Argumentation Databases.

It is notable that the World Congress used a web site as its primary tool to communicate with its participants prior to their arrival in Boston (See Event Handlers, P&C Spring 1998). People from CAP also suggested the development of the WCP’s Cyber Cafe. The Cafe provided a place where people could check their e-mail and where computer demonstrations could be held. It was clearly a success, although the number of computer stations was inadequate for the demand.