APA Newsletters
Fall 1999
Volume 99, Number 1

Newsletter on Philosophy and Computers

Event Handlers

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Charting the Change

Bill Uzgalis
wuzgalis@orst.edu

Last year the annual American Philosophical Association Computers and Philosophy Conference (CAP) was held in Boston in conjunction with the World Congress rather than at its usual home at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. The American organizers of the World Congress arranged for this conjunction because they wanted to display unique features of American Philosophy to the delegates from the rest of the world and they believed that the use of computers represents one of the unique features of contemporary American philosophy. Terry Bynum and Jim Moore, the editors of The Digital Phoenix: How Computers are Changing Philosophy¹ (a project of the APA’s committee on Computers and Philosophy), remark that computing provides philosophy with "new and evolving subject matters, methods, and models for philosophical inquiry." Computing, they remark, is affecting our conceptions of "mind, consciousness, experience, knowledge, truth, ethics and creativity." Sometimes such effects come from reflecting on what computers can do, sometimes on what they cannot. One way or the other, reflection on computers and computing is transforming the discipline. It may well also be creating a new field of computational philosophy.

"We are, however, devoted to the principle of inclusion."

The editorial staff of this newsletter agree with the judgment of the organizers of the World Congress and with Bynum and Moore. This column is intended to celebrate the achievements of philosophers who are doing remarkable things with computers, whether this is winning awards for software to teach students about Turing machines or logic, giving the keynote address at the CAP conference, running an important center devoted to the study of logic and information, developing an on-line philosophy encyclopedia, producing important web resource for philosophers, or being recognized as a leader in the philosophy and computing community by one of the commercial companies involved in computer technology and distance education. Generally, we try to interview people, and thus the format of the column is often that of a dialogue. Sometimes there will be essays devoted to particular topics.

As new subject matters, methods, and models appear and evolve, it is important to track these conceptual developments. The Digital Phoenix was a major effort in this direction. One topic for a future column will very likely be an attempt to trace the continuing development of the subject areas of computational philosophy. We also plan to try to develop a list of all those engaged in this new enterprise and to facilitate communication among them.

We want to spread the news about people doing such remarkable things. In order to do so, however, we have to hear about them ourselves. Often enough the CAP conference and the web of connections we have through the APA’s Computers and Philosophy committee serves to alert us to interesting things going on. We are, however, devoted to the principle of inclusion. We would like to invite any reader to contact us who knows of a philosopher doing groundbreaking work with computers, whether this be in research or teaching. We are delighted to learn of new and interesting philosophical uses of computers, to share the insights with our readers, to celebrate those who make the discoveries, and to help chart the territory.

Note

1. Bynum, T. and Moor, J., The Digital Phoenix: How Computers are Changing Philosophy. (Oxford: Basil Blackwell Publisher, 1998).

For a review of The Digital Phoenix see
G. J. C. Lokhorst at www.eur.nl/fw/staff/lokhorst/phoenix.html. – ed.

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APA Newsletters Fall 1999 Volume 99, Number 1

APA Newsletters
Fall 1999
Volume 99, Number 1