Philosophy and Computers |
| Reading Assignments |
| date | topic | reading |
| Thurs, August 24 | first day of class | |
| Tuesday, August 29 | Introduction | Floridi, chapter 1 |
| Thurs, August 31 | Turing Machines | Floridi, chapter 2, pp. 20-40 |
| Tues, September 5 | Boolean algebra and semantic interpretation | Floridi, chapter 2, rest |
| Thurs, September 7 | "Cartesian networks," online communication, the "infosphere" | Floridi, chapter 3 |
| Tues, September 12 | databases, hypertext | Floridi, chapter 4 |
| Thurs, September 14 | AI - first session | Floridi, chapter 5 (to p. 155 only) |
| Tues, September 19 | More AI | Haugeland, chapter 2 paragraph on presentation topic due |
| Thurs, September 21 | Still More AI | Haugeland, chapter 3 |
| Tues, September 26 | architecture | Haugeland, chapter 4 |
| Thurs, September 28 | real ai programs | Haugeland, chapter 5 |
| Tuesday, October 3 | objections to AI | Haugeland, chapter 6; Dreyfus; Searle |
| Thursday, October 5 | TBA | |
| Tuesday, October 10 | presenter: Jay topic: AI |
tba |
| Thurs, October 12 | presenter: Peter | Bill Joy essay |
| Tues, October 17 | presenter: Jason topic: ethics and information technology |
(might be a good session to read Floridi's essay on whether information has a moral worth) |
| Thurs, October 19 | presenter: John Burwell topic: computer epistemology |
readings from John Pollock |
| Tues, October 24 | mid-term examination | |
| Thursday, October 26 | John Brezeale AI & ethics: hacking and cracking |
essay by Dorothy Denning |
| Tuesday, October 31 | possibilities for changing human nature via new technologies | selection from Dery, Escape Velocity |
| Thursday, November 2 | changing human nature, continued: downloading oneself into a computer, and other anti-body fantasies | more from Dery, Escape Velocity |
| Tuesday, November 7 | computing and metaphysics | Brian Cantwell Smith, On the Origin of Objects, Introduction, chapter 1 |
| Thursday, November 9 | more metaphysics | Smith, chapter 1, continued |
| Tuesday, November 14 | continued . . . | Smith, chapters 2,3 |
| Thursday, November 16 | more . . . | chapters 10,11 |
| Tuesday, November 21 | conclude discussion of Smith; brainstorming session on uses of infotech in philosophy | no new reading |
| Thursday, November 23 | NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING | |
| Tuesday, November 28 | project presentations | |
| Thursday, November 30 | project presentations | |
| Tuesday, December 5 | last session: review, prospects | |
| Monday, December 13 | final examination, 8:30 AM |
| Other Assignment-Related Information |
Review information for mid-term examination.
Last update: November 19, 2000. |