This intermediate-level philosophy course focuses on questions arising from the long history of interaction between the overlapping fields of philosophy, mathematics, and computer science. What is a computational system? What can and can’t such systems do? Can machines think? Is the human mind/brain itself a computer? Is fully general artificial intelligence possible? Through critical reading, writing, and discussion, students will consider how philosophical questions like these have spurred the development of computational systems, from Turing machines to large language models, as well as how such technological developments have shaped and advanced philosophical discourse.
Blackwell Guide = The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Computing and Information Luciano Floridi (Ed.)
Routledge Handbook = The Routledge Handbook of the Computational Mind Mark Sprevak & Matteo Colombo (Eds.)
Mind Design = Mind Design III: Philosophy, Psychology, and Artificial Intelligence John Haugeland, Carl F. Craver & Colin Klein (Eds.)
B. Jack Copeland, “Computation” Blackwell Guide
Alasdair Urquhart, “Complexity” Blackwell Guide
Klaus Mainzer, “System: An Introduction to Systems Science” Blackwell Guide
Luciano Floridi, “Information” Blackwell Guide
Carl Mitcham, “Philosophy of Information Technology” Blackwell Guide
Graham White, “The Philosophy of Computer Languages” Blackwell Guide; Writing Assignment 1 due
Paul Thagard, “Computing in the Philosophy of Science” Blackwell Guide
Patrick Grim, “Computational Modeling as a Philosophical Methodology” Blackwell Guide
Alistair M. C. Isaac, “Computational Thought from Descartes to Lovelace” Routledge Handbook
Brian P. McLaughlin, “Computationalism, Connectionism, and the Philosophy of Mind” Blackwell Guide
Kenneth Aizawa, “Turing-Equivalent Computation at the ‘Conception’ of Cognitive Science” Routledge Handbook
John R. Searle, “Minds, Brains, and Programs” Mind Design; Writing Assignment 2 due
Margaret A. Boden, “Escaping from the Chinese Room” Mind Design
Daniel D. Hutto, Erik Myin, Anco Peeters, & Farid Zahnoun, “The Cognitive Basis of Computation: Putting Computation in Its Place” Routledge Handbook
Patricia S. Churchland & Terrence J. Sejnowski, “The Computational Brain” Mind Design
Julia Haas, “The Evaluative Mind” Mind Design
James H. Fetzer, “The Philosophy of AI and Its Critique” Blackwell Guide
Alan M. Turing, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” Mind Design; Writing Assignment 3 due
Hubert L. Dreyfus & Stuart E. Dreyfus, “Putting Computers in Their Place” Social Research
Rich Sutton, “The Bitter Lesson” www.incompleteideas.net/IncIdeas/BitterLesson.html
Stuart J. Russell, “Rationality and Intelligence” Mind Design
Melanie Mitchell, “Why AI is Harder Than We Think” Mind Design
Blaise Agüera y Arcas, “Do Large Language Models Understand Us?” Daedalus
Konstantine Arkoudas, “ChatGPT Is No Stochastic Parrot. But It Also Claims That 1 Is Greater Than 1” Philosophy & Technology
Writing Assignment 4 due by the end of the exam period