Network
Network [Nätverk för kunskapsutveckling inom Data- och Systemvetenskapernas filosofi]
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Here ”Informatics” is defined as synonymous of Informatik / Informatique/ Informatica and alike European terms which are equivalent to ”Computing” in its ACM/IEEE interpretation (i.e. Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering and Information Systems). It is interesting to observe that the English term "Computing" has an empirical orientation, while the corresponding German, French and Italian term “Informatics” has an abstract orientation. This difference in terminology may be traced back to the tradition of nineteenth-century British empiricism and continental abstraction respectively. So the question of nomenclature [Philosophy of Computing or Philosophy of Information?] can be seen in the light of the following dichotomies: INFORMATION – COMPUTATION DATA STRUCTURE – ALGORITHM PARTICLE – FIELD The analogy from physics is particularly instructive: particles are considered as the primary principle, while fields/interactions are defined in terms of particles as particle exchange.There is an obvious difference between the two main streams of Philosophy of Information and Computing - computation-oriented and information-oriented. Computation current is particularly focused on the nature of the process of computing, its meaning and its mechanisms. It is much more focused on mathematic and logic than the information-oriented stream which is mostly social and human-centered and has many broad interfaces to humanities (like e.g. library information science). The concept of information itself is so elementary that it is common of all our knowledge and in a wider sense it comprises every perception and even every physical/ material phenomenon. That is also the reason why a sharp borders between the fields are impossible to draw.The Philosophy of Information is – ”A new philosophical discipline, concerned with: a) the critical investigation of the conceptual nature and basic principles of information, including its dynamics (especially computation and flow), utilisation and sciences; and
b)
the elaboration and application of information-theoretic and
computational methodologies to philosophical problems More about Philosophy of Computing, that besides the classical computation represented by Turing paradigm encompasses even the critical analysis of the emerging research field of natural computation. Informatics is a modern discipline that builds on science (where the term science also encompasses very central disciplines of mathematics and logic), and technology. In some of its parts (e.g. AI) Informatics has strong relations to philosophy, psychology, ethics, aesthetics and art. At present there is a vital need to formulate and disseminate critical reflections over the foundations of Informatics, its connections to other fields of human endeavor, its prospects and its limitations within the framework of Philosophy of Information. In that respect, the following proclamation of the Japanese Philosophy of Computation Project is significant. "The mission of the Philosophy of Computation Project is to reconsider various concepts of computation innocently used in Philosophy, Mathematics, Computer Science, Cognitive Science, Life Science, Social Science, etc., and reveal global problems hidden in each realms. We don't only aim to answer particular questions but also to provide universal viewpoints which are thought of important for this new subject." It is important to notice that Computing is changing the traditional field of Philosophy of Science in a very profound way. First as a methodological tool, computing makes possible “experimental Philosophy” which is able to provide practical tests for different philosophical ideas. At the same time the ideal object of investigation of the Philosophy of Science is changing. For a long period of time the ideal science was Physics (e.g. Popper, Carnap, Kuhn, and Chalmers). Now the focus is shifting to the field of Computing/Informatics. There are many good reasons for this paradigm shift, one of those being a long standing need of a new meeting between the sciences and humanities, for which the new discipline of Computing/Informatics gives innumerable possibilities. Contrary to Physics, Computing/Informatics is very much human-centered. It brings a potential for a new Renaissance, where Science and Humanities, Arts and Engineering can converge to reach a new synthesis, so very much needed in our intellectually split culture. Contemporary trends in the establishing the relation between the Philosophy of Science and the Philosophy of Computing and Information are developing in the direction of replacing the historical relation between Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Physics. In a very enlightening way Philosophy of Informatics brings together phenomena and methods otherwise completely disparate. A future project of synthesis, a new Renaissance with human in its centre, can be accommodated within the methodological and conceptual space of PI. One of the goals of the PI project is to shed more light on the foundations of Informatics and its future possibilities. The project is building on scientific traditions and relates problems of Informatics to the classical sciences in order to widen the perspective and explore the sets of values and ethical grounds for a discipline. It does not imply that Informatics itself can be reduced to a science. The ambition is to explore to what extent and in what ways it builds on scientific (again inclusive mathematics and logic) traditions and what other traditions may be used in order to better understand the present and future development of Informatics. The PI network is both interdisciplinary and cross disciplinary, the unique feature of its members being their active experience of research within different disciplines such as computer science, philosophy, linguistics and classical sciences (biology, physics). We have therefore necessary prerequisites to illuminate the basic issues of Informatics in their broad context both through the scientific, philosophical and technical analysis. PI network is structured as a symmetric organization where group members who are specialists within computer science exchange their experiences with the group members who originally come from different other fields, and who nowadays all are active within the field of Informatics. The network is going to work internally with the aim to lay the foundations of the new discipline. Externally we are going to organize a Swedish National Course in Philosophy of Computer Science. In order to strengthen teacher team even more, we are going to invite distinguished lecturers from the related fields to give lectures on topics important for PI.
Last update 2009-11-19 |