Philosophy and Computing

The development of Computing has already provoked many new philosophical ideas, particularly in theories of logic, language, and mind, as well as generating some entirely new Meta-Studies of Computing and Information Science. But its philosophical importance is perhaps even more fundamental, providing A New Paradigm of Explanation. Even for philosophers with no interest in Computing as a subject of study in its own right, computers are now indispensable tools of academic life, for example in text preparation, presentation, communication, research and analysis. They also have the potential to be wonderful tools for modelling, experimentation and analysis, especially of complex phenomena (such as social or biological interactions) that resist conventional treatment. Yet most of those who take a serious interest in philosophy are unable to exploit these possibilities, because such computer modelling requires a level of understanding and technical competence not easily acquired without formal training. (For more detail on these various points, see What Can Computing Offer Philosophers?)

Meanwhile, those who learn to program can become fascinated by the philosophical horizons of the intellectual world this opens up, as they develop their abilities to think abstractly about information, languages, algorithms, and proofs. Some of these issues are rather remote from practical concerns (see Hilbert, Gödel and Turing). But others are of clear relevance to future software engineering, especially for developments in Artificial Intelligence (see Computational/Philosophical Issues). Likewise those who aspire to develop intelligent machines face a number of fundamental Philosophical Issues in Robot Design, while information engineers increasingly have to grapple with legal and Ethical Issues raised by the ubiquitous place of computer systems in modern society. Computer scientists can benefit from studying the work of philosophers in all of these areas, though again it can be hard to bridge the frontier between the disciplines, as most education for computer scientists is relatively narrow and technical, focused more on immediate economic utility than futuristic developments or intellectual excitement.

The aim of this website is to help provide such a bridge between Philosophy and Computing, in both directions ...

For students of Philosophy who are seeking ways into formal Computing, enabling them to learn by discovery about programming, how computers work, language processing, artificial intelligence etc. Also to help them appreciate the excitement of conducting computerised thought experiments on philosophically interesting problems such as the evolution of co-operative behaviour.

For students of Computing who are keen to see how their technical abilities can be applied to intellectually exciting problems, and lead them towards philosophical thinking about such problems.

This website is under development by Peter Millican, Fellow in Philosophy at Hertford College, Oxford University, who previously taught both Philosophy and Computing for 20 years at the University of Leeds.