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Cover

Title Page

Dedication

List of Figures

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Companion Website

Part I: Philosophy and Computer Science

1 An Introduction to the Philosophy of Computer Science

1.1 What This Book Is About

1.2 What This Book Is Not About

2 Philosophy: A Personal View

2.1 Introduction

2.2 A Definition of ‘Philosophy’

2.3 What Is Truth?

2.4 Searching for the Truth

2.5 What Is “Rational”?

2.6 Philosophy as a Personal Search

2.7 Philosophies of Anything and Everything

2.8 Philosophy and Computer Science

2.9 Appendix: Argument Analysis and Evaluation Notes

Part II: Computer Science, Computers, and Computation

3 What Is Computer Science?

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Naming the Discipline

3.3 Why Ask What CS Is?

3.4 What Does It Mean to Ask What Something Is?

3.5 CS as the Science of Computers

3.6 CS Studies Algorithms

3.7 Physical Computers vs. Abstract Algorithms

3.8 CS Studies Information

3.9 CS as a Mathematical Science

3.10 CS as a Natural Science of Procedures

3.11 CS as an Empirical Study

3.12 CS as Engineering

3.13 Science xor Engineering?

3.14 CS as “Both”

3.15 CS as “More”

3.16 CS as “Neither”

3.17 Summary

3.18 Questions for the Reader Notes

4 Science 4.1 Introduction

4.2 Science and Non‐Science

4.3 Science as Systematic Study

4.4 The Goals of Science

4.5 Instrumentalism vs. Realism

4.6 Scientific Theories

4.7 “The” Scientific Method

4.8 Falsifiability

4.9 scientific revolutions

4.10 Other Alternatives

4.11 CS and Science

4.12 Questions to Think About Notes

5 Engineering

5.1 Defining ‘Engineering’

5.2 Engineering as Science

5.3 A Brief History of Engineering

5.4 Conceptions of Engineering

5.5 What Engineers Do

5.6 The Engineering Method

5.7 Software Engineering

5.8 CS and Engineering

5.9 Questions to Think About Notes

6 Computers: A Brief History

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Would You Like to Be a Computer?

6.3 Two Histories of Computers

6.4 The Engineering History

6.5 The Scientific History

6.6 The Histories Converge

6.7 What Is a Computer? Notes

7 Algorithms and Computability

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Functions and Computation

7.3 ‘Algorithm’ Made Precise8

7.4 Five Great Insights of CS

7.5 Structured Programming31

7.6 Recursive Functions

7.7 Non‐Computable Functions

7.8 Summary

7.9 Questions for the Reader Notes

8 Turing's Analysis of Computation

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Slow and Active Reading

8.3 Title: “The Entscheidungsproblem”

8.4 Paragraph 1

8.5 Paragraph 2

8.6 Section 1, Paragraph 1: “Computing Machines”

8.7 Section 9: “The Extent of the Computable Numbers”

8.8 “Computing Machines”

8.9 Section 2: “Definitions”

8.10 Section 3: “Examples of Computing Machines”

8.11 Section 4: “Abbreviated Tables”

8.12 Section 5: “Enumeration of Computable Sequences”

8.13 Section 6: “The Universal Computing Machine”

8.14 The Rest of Turing's Paper Notes

9 Computers: A Philosophical Perspective

9.1 What Is a Computer?

9.2 Informal Definitions

9.3 Computers, Turing Machines, and Universal Turing Machines

9.4 John Searle's “Pancomputationalism”: Everything Is a Computer

9.5 Patrick Hayes: Computers as Magic Paper

9.6 Gualtiero Piccinini: Computers as Digital String Manipulators

9.7 What Else Might Be a Computer?

9.8 Conclusion

9.9 Questions for the Reader Notes

Part III: The Church‐Turing Computability Thesis

10 Procedures

10.1 Introduction

10.2 The Church‐Turing Computability Thesis

10.3 What Is a Procedure?

10.4 Carol Cleland: Some Effective Procedures Are Not Turing Machines

10.5 Beth Preston: Recipes, Algorithms, and Specifications

10.6 Summary

10.7 Questions for the Reader Notes

11 Hypercomputation

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Generic Computation

11.3 Non‐Euclidean Geometries and “Non‐Turing Computations”

11.4 Hypercomputation

11.5 “Newer Physics” Hypercomputers

11.6 Analog Recurrent Neural Networks

11.7 Objections to Hypercomputation

11.8 Interactive Computation

11.9 Oracle Computation

11.10 Trial‐and‐Error Computation

11.11 Summary

11.12 Questions for the Reader Notes

Part IV: Computer Programs

12 Software and Hardware

12.1 The Nature of Computer Programs

12.2 Programs and Algorithms

12.3 Software, Programs, and Hardware

12.4 Moor: Software Is Changeable

12.5 Suber: Software Is Pattern

12.6 Colburn: Software Is a Concrete Abstraction

12.7 Summary

12.8 Questions for the Reader Notes

13 Implementation

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Implementation as Semantic Interpretation

13.3 Chalmers's Theory of Implementation Notes

14 Computer Programs as Scientific Theories

14.1 Introduction

14.2 Simulations

14.3 Computer Programs Are Theories

14.4 Computer Programs Aren't Theories Notes

15 Computer Programs as Mathematical Objects

15.1 Introduction

15.2 Theorem Verification

15.3 Program Verification

15.4 The Fetzer Controversy

15.5 The Program‐Verification Debate: Summary

15.6 Program Verification, Models, and the World Notes

16 Programs and the World

16.1 Introduction

16.2 Internal vs. External Behavior: Some Examples

16.3 Two Views of Computation

16.4 Inputs, Turing Machines, and Outputs

16.5 Are Programs Teleological?

16.6 Algorithms Do Need a Purpose

16.7 Algorithms Don't Need a Purpose

16.8 Algorithms and Goals

16.9 Computing with Symbols or with Their Meanings

16.10 Syntactic, Internal, and Indigenous Semantics

16.11 Content and Computation

16.12 Summary

16.13 Questions for the Reader Notes

Part V: Computer Ethics and Artificial Intelligence

17 Computer Ethics I: Should We Trust Computers?

17.1 Introduction

17.2 Decisions and Computers

17.3 Are Computer Decisions Rational?

17.4 Should Computers Make Decisions for Us?

17.5 Should Computers Make Decisions with Us?

17.6 Should We Trust Decisions Computers Make?

17.7 Are There Decisions Computers Must Make for Us?

17.8 Are There Decisions Computers Shouldn't Make?

17.9 Questions for the Reader Notes

18 Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence

18.1 Introduction

18.2 What Is AI?

18.3 The Turing Test

18.4 Digression: The “Lovelace Objection”

18.5 Digression: Turing on Intelligent Machinery

18.6 The Chinese Room Argument

18.7 The Argument from Biology

18.8 The Argument from Semantics

18.9 Leibniz's Mill and Turing's “Strange Inversion”

18.10 A Better Way

18.11 Questions for Discussion

Notes

19 Computer Ethics II: Should We Build Artificial Intelligences?

19.1 Introduction

19.2 Is AI Possible in Principle?

19.3 What Is a Person?

19.4 Rights

19.5 Responsibilities

19.6 Personal AIs and Morality

19.7 Are We Personal AIs?

19.8 Questions for the Reader

Notes

Part VI: Closing Remarks

20 Computer Science: A Personal View

20.1 Introduction

20.2 Computer Science and Elephants

20.3 Five Central Questions of CS

20.4 Wing's Five Questions

20.5 Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Illustrations

Chapter 2

Figure 2.1 How to evaluate an argument from premises ...

Chapter 3

Figure 3.1 Artificial vs. Natural.

Figure 3.2 We're awesome at teaching.

Chapter 4

Figure 4.1 World, Observations, Theory.

Figure 4.2 Fields arranged by purity.

Chapter 5

Figure 5.1 Malpas's engineering method (Malpas, 2000, p. 35).

Chapter 6

Figure 6.1 1892 computer ad.

Chapter 7

Figure 7.2 A function “machine” that transforms input into output .

Figure 7.3 A real‐life example of an ambiguous instruction. Whose head shoul...

Chapter 9

Figure 9.1

Chapter 13

Figure 13.1 A pictorial representation of Chalmers's analysis of implementat...

Chapter 15

Figure 15.1 2D photographic model of a real house.

Figure 15.2 Source: From Colburn et al., 1993, p. 283. Reprinted with permis...

Figure 15.3 A cognitive agent looking at a real‐world object that the agent ...

Chapter 16

Chapter 18

Figure 18.1 Syntax, semantics, and syntactic semantics.

Figure 18.2 How a computational cognitive agent perceives the world.

Figure 18.3 Homunculi from an exhibit at the Buffalo Museum of Science(!).

Chapter 20

Philosophy of Computer Science

An Introduction to the Issues and the Literature

William J. Rapaport

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Department of Philosophy, Department of Linguistics and Center for Cognitive Science

University at Buffalo, The State University of New York Buffalo, NY

This edition first published 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

The right of William J. Rapaport to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with law.

Registered Oﬀice

John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA

For details of our global editorial offices, customer services, and more information about Wiley products visit us at www.wiley.com.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by print‐on‐demand. Some content that appears in standard print versions of this book may not be available in other formats

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty

While the publisher and authors have used their best efforts in preparing this work, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives, written sales materials or promotional statements for this work. The fact that an organization, website, or product is referred to in this work as a citation and/or potential source of further information does not mean that the publisher and authors endorse the information or services the organization, website, or product may provide or recommendations it may make. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a specialist where appropriate. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. Neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages

Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data

Names: Rapaport,William J., author.

Title: Philosophy of computer science : an introduction to the issues and the literature /William J. Rapaport.

Description: Hoboken, NJ :Wiley-Blackwell, 2023. | Includes

bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022039093 (print) | LCCN 2022039094 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119891901 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119891918 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119891925 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Computer science‐Philosophy

Classification: LCC QA76.167 .R37 2023 (print) | LCC QA76.167 (ebook) | DDC 004‐dc23/eng/20220824

LC record available at https://lccn loc gov/2022039093

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022039094

Cover design: Wiley

This book is dedicated to my family: Mary, Michael, Sheryl, Makayla, Laura, William, Allyson, Lexie, Rob, and Robert.

List of Figures

Figure 1 What's all the fuss about computers?

Figure 2.1 How to evaluate an argument from premises and to conclusion .

Figure 3.1 Artificial vs. Natural.

Figure 3.2 We're awesome at teaching.

Figure 4.1 World, Observations, Theory.

Figure 4.2 Purity.

Figure 5.1 Malpas's engineering method.

Figure 6.1 1892 computer ad.

Figure 7.1 Snowman algorithm

Figure 7.2 A function “machine” that transforms input into output .

Figure 7.3 A real‐life example of an ambiguous instruction.

Figure 9.1 Abstruse Goose, The Ultimate.

Figure 13.1 A pictorial representation of Chalmers's analysis of implementation.

Figure 15.1 2D photographic model of a real house.

Figure 15.2 B.C. Smith's figure.

Figure 15.3 A cognitive agent.

Figure 16.1 1 = Yes; 2 = No.

Figure 18.1 Syntax, semantics, and syntactic semantics.

Figure 18.2 How a computational cognitive agent perceives the world.

Figure 18.3 Homunculi from an exhibit at the Buffalo Museum of Science(!).

Figure 20.1 Toaster computer.

If you begin with Computer Science, you will end with Philosophy.1

Note

1 “Clicking on the first link in the main text of an English Wikipedia article, and then repeating the process for subsequent articles, usually leads to the Philosophy article. In February 2016, this was true for 97% of all articles in Wikipedia, an increase from 94.52% in 2011” (“Wikipedia:Getting to Philosophy,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Getting_to_P hilosophy).

On 9 August 2021, if you began with “Computer Science,” you would end with “Philosophy” in 11 links: computer science algorithm mathematics quantity counting number mathematical object concept abstraction rule of inference philosophy of logic philosophy.

Preface

This is a university‐level introduction to the philosophy of computer science based on a course that I created at the University at Buffalo in 2004 and taught from 2004 to 2010 (I retired in 2012). At the time I created the course, there were few other such courses and virtually no textbooks (only a few monographs and anthologies). Although there are now more such courses, there are only a very few introductory textbooks in the area. My retirement project was to turn my lecture notes into a book that could be used as an introduction to the issues and serve as a guide to the original literature; this book is the result.

The course is described in Rapaport 2005c. The syllabus, readings, assignments, and website for the last version of the course are online at http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/ ∼rapaport/584/. The Online Resources contain suggested further readings, in‐class exercises (arguments for analysis, in addition to the questions at the ends of some of the chapters), term-paper suggestions, a sample final exam, advice to the instructor on peer‐editing for the exercises, and a philosophy of grading.

Many of the books and articles I discuss are available on the Web. Rather than giving Web addresses (URLs) for them, I urge interested readers to try a Google (or other) search for the documents. Books and journal articles can often be found either by visiting the author's website (e.g. most of my papers are at https://cse.buffalo.edu/ ∼rapaport/papers.html) or by using a search string consisting of the last name(s) of the author(s) followed by the title of the document enclosed in quotation marks (For example, to find Rapaport 2005c, search for “rapaport “philosophy of computer science””). URLs that I give for

Web‐only items (or other hard‐to‐find items) were accurate at the time of writing. Some, however, will change or disappear. Documents that have disappeared can sometimes be found at the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine (https://archive.org/web/). Some documents with no public URLs may eventually gain them. And, of course, readers should search the Internet or Wikipedia for any unfamiliar term or concept.

Sidebars: Sprinkled throughout the book are sidebars in boxes, like this one. Some are Digressions that clarify or elaborate on various aspects of the text. Some are suggestions for Further Reading. Others are Questions for the reader to consider at that point in the text. Additional suggested readings, along with student assignments and an instructor's manual, are in the Online Resources.

Acknowledgments

For comments on, suggestions for, or corrections to earlier versions, my thanks go especially to

Peter Boltuc, Jonathan Bona, Selmer Bringsjord, Jin‐Yi Cai, Timothy Daly, Edgar Daylight, Peter Denning, Eric Dietrich, William D. Duncan, J. Michael Dunn, Frank Fedele, Albert Goldfain, James Graham Maw, Carl Hewitt, Robin K. Hill, Johan Lammens, Cliff Landesman, Nelson Pole, Thomas M. Powers, Michael I. Rapaport, Stuart C. Shapiro, Aaron Sloman, Mark Staples, Matti Tedre, and Victoria G. Traube; as well as to Russ Abbott, Khaled Alshammari, S.V. Anbazhagan, S. Champailler, Arnaud Debec, Roger Derham, Gabriel Dulac‐Arnold, Mike Ferguson, Pablo Godoy, David Miguel Gray, Nurbay Irmak, Patrick McComb, Cristina Murta, Alexander Oblovatnyi, oleg@okmij.org, Andres Rosa, Richard M. Rubin, Seth David Schoen, Stephen Selesnick, Dean Waters, Nick Wiggershaus, and Sen Zhang; and the University at Buffalo Department of Computer Science Information Technology staff for help with LaTex; and my editors at Wiley: Will Croft, Rosie Hayden, and Tiffany Taylor.

Philosophy of computer science: an introduction to the issues and the literature william j. rapaport

Politics S. Elizabeth Penry

Table of Contents

Part II: Computer Science, Computers, and Computation

Notes

List of Illustrations

Philosophy of Computer Science

An Introduction to the Issues and the Literature

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty

List of Figures

Note

Preface

Acknowledgments