Philosophy Conferences and Calls for Papers

Submissions to the track will also be considered for revision and
publication in The Journal of Applied Logic: A special issue devoted to the philosophy of computer science.

Important dates and submission

Extended abstracts (1000 words): January 29, 2007

The philosophy of computer science (PCS) track is part of ECAP’07. For submission instructions, format, and deadline extensions please refer to the conference page at http://pcs.essex.ac.uk/ecap07/cfp.html

Topics

What is the philosophy of computer science (PCS)? We take the PCS to be that branch of philosophy which is concerned with the investigation of philosophical problems that arise from within computer science. By analogy, the PCS stands to computer science as does the philosophy of mathematics to mathematics and the philosophy of physics to physics. We solicit papers investigating philosophical questions including, but not limited to, the following:

Metaphysics. What is the subject matter of computer science? Are computer programs mathematical entities, human artefacts, or ‘natural kinds’? Alternatively, is computer science indeed a science, is it a branch of mathematics, or perhaps an engineering discipline? Is there a realism/antirealism issue in computer science as there is in mathematics?

Ontology. What is the (top-level) taxonomy of computer programs? What is the relation between meta-software, software, and hardware? Which ontological commitments are made in programs (“source code”): are they committed to objects in the real world, to objects in the programming paradigm’s vocabulary (such as mathematical functions in functional programming and objects and classes in object-oriented programming), or perhaps to the types defined in the program? Is this ontology shaped by the programming language, possibly in the same way that general ontology is shaped by natural language? How exactly do programming paradigms carve the universe of programs?

Methodology. What is the role of mathematics in computer science? Is mathematical modelling there to supplement or replace the engineering enterprise? Is computer science an empirical theory? What would an experiment in computer science look like, and how would it be different (if at all) from an experiment in empirical sciences? Should methods of psychology or phyics serve as a model for experiments? Are experiments conducted in evolutionary programming, genetic programming, and robotics methodologically sound? What is the status of knowledge gained from conducting an experiment in computer science: is it knowledge about the real world or is it something about algorithms? Is a computer program a scientific theory?

Program Co-Chairs

Amnon H Eden, Department of Computer Science, University of Essex and Center For Inquiry, Amherst, NY and Raymond Turner, Department of Computer Science, University of Essex

For enquiries please write us: pcschair[at]essex.ac.uk