Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Moor/Bynum Intro to Cyberphilosophy

An interesting philosophy is the one that Moor and Bynum present in their introduction. They hold that "computing provides philosophy with new and fertile subject matter, models, and methods." This they say in their opening statement. However, in the very last paragraph of their introduction, the two assert that "no scientific or technological enterprise is conducted without a philosophical framework." Hold up a minute- which came first then? Luckily, common knowledge tells us that computers have only been around for just over sixty years, and that what Moor and Bynum really meant, is that computing is just one of very many sources from which philosophy finds its fuel. Adaptation to an ever changing world is essential, which, given the conclusions above, the very course for which we are working at this moment would not have been possible just sixty years ago. I am fascinated to think about what course must have been in place of this one back then. Or, wasn't there one? With regards to the subject matter concerning this course, though, I must say I am excited to begin addressing all the issues that Moor and Bynum decided to include references to in their introduction: artificial intelligence, phenomenology, pedagogy, historically Western philosophical thought, epistemology, and ethics, etc. Perhaps my greatest interest among all these stimulating topics will be ethics. I look forward to learning the opinions of my classmates on matters regarding cyber-ethics, including intellectual property rights, and copyright law with regards to the net. There is a whole spew of controversy surrounding law and the internet, and I absolutely love engaging in fast-paced, intellectual conversations with my peers. To all my peers reading this entry, I look forward to working with you.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

It might surprise you to learn this, but sixty years ago, I wasn't even BORN yet, so there was definitely NO replacement for this course back then, because I wasn't even teaching college writing.

Nothing like a simple, straightforward answer to a question, is there? :)

-Prof. Castle