2-6 Jul 2012
Birmingham, U.K.
Symposium on Computational Philosophy
to be held as part of the
AISB/IACAP World Congress <http://events.cs.bham.ac.uk/turing12/> (in Honor
of Alan Turing, 1912-1954)
[image: Turing Image] <http://www.mathcomp.leeds.ac.uk/turing2012/>
July 2nd to 6th, 2012
University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
Organized by
The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of
Behaviour (AISB) <http://www.aisb.org.uk/>
and
The International Association for Computing and Philosophy
(IACAP)<http://www.iacap.org/>
*Call for Papers*
Computational philosophy uses computational techniques to assist in
philosophical discovery and provide evidence for philosophical positions
that may not be easily found using traditional philosophical methods alone.
It involves an array of techniques including standard computer programing,
artificial intelligence, computer modeling, agent-based modeling, network
analysis and ontology construction. Its philosophical targets cut across
almost all branches of philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology and
axiology, along with various specialized domains such as the philosophies
of science, mind, technology, social and political philosophy, the history
of philosophy, etc.
We invite papers that use computational techniques to acquire insight into
any aspect of philosophy. We are not here so much interested in broader
methodological questions that such techniques raise. Rather, for this
symposium, we are interested in papers that deal with the actual
application of computer-assisted discovery in philosophy.
Sample topics include, but are not limited to, using computers to:
- Simplify canonical philosophical arguments
- Understand idea propagation in evidenced-based epistemology
- Understand and clarify processes of belief-revision and/or
prejudice reduction
- Understand cognitive processes to illuminate theories in the
philosophy of mind
- Model ethical theories to test their viability or assist in ethical
decision making
- Model philosophical theories more generally for comparative purposes
- Provide insight into the process of human and/or machine creativity
Submissions should be limited to 3,000 words (excluding references). Please
email a copy of your paper suitable for blind review in PDF format (APA
style) to the symposium program chair, Anthony Beavers, at
afbeavers@gmail.com. Accepted papers will be presented on July 2nd and 3rd
as part of the AISB/IACAP 2012 World Congress.
- Submission Deadline: 1 February 2012
- Decisions: 1 March 2012
- Final Copy Due: 30 March 2012
Further symposium details will be available on this website as they become
available.
*Keynote Speakers*
- Edward N. Zalta <http://mally.stanford.edu/zalta.html> (Stanford
University)
- Paul Oppenheimer <http://www.peoppenheimer.org/> (Stanford
University)
*Program Committee*
- Anthony Beavers <http://faculty.evansville.edu/tb2/> (University of
Evansville), Chair
- Patrick Grim <http://www.pgrim.org/> (SUNY, Stony Brook)
- Chris Menzel <http://philebus.tamu.edu/cmenzel/> (Texas A&M)
- Vincent C. Müller <http://www.typos.de/> (Anatolia College / Oxford
University)
- Matthias Scheutz
<http://hrilab.cs.tufts.edu/people/matthias.php> (Tufts
University)
- Orlin Vakarelov <http://www.u.arizona.edu/~okv/> (University of
Arizona)
- Hector Zenil <http://www.algorithmicnature.org/zenil> (University
of Sheffield / Wolfram Research)
*Proceedings*
There will be separate proceedings for each symposium at the AISB/IACAP
World Congress, produced beforehand. Each delegate at the Congress will
receive, on arrival, a memory stick containing the proceedings of all
symposia.
*About the AISB/IACAP 2012 World Congress*
The Congress serves both as the year's AISB Convention and the year's IACAP
conference. The Congress has been inspired by a desire to honour Alan
Turing, and by the broad and deep significance of Turing's work to AI, to
the philosophical ramifications of computing, and to philosophy and
computing more generally. The Congress is one of the events forming the Alan
Turing Year <http://www.mathcomp.leeds.ac.uk/turing2012/>.
The intent of the Congress is to stimulate a particularly rich interchange
between AI and Philosophy on any areas of mutual interest, whether directly
addressing Turing's own research output or not.
The Congress will consist mainly of a number of collocated Symposia on
specific research areas, interspersed with Congress-wide refreshment
breaks, social events and invited Plenary Talks. All papers other than the
invited Plenaries will be given within Symposia.