Reading "all about" computerization: five common genres of social analysis

This paper examines unstated, but critical, social assumptions which underlie analyses of computerization. It focuses on the popular, professional and scholarly literature which claims to describe the actual nature of computerization, the character of computer use, and the social choices and changes that result from computerization. This literature can be usefully segmented five ideal type genres: utopian, anti-utopian, social realism, social theory, and analytical reduction. Each genre is characterized and illustrated. The strengths and weaknesses of each genre are described. In the 1990s, there will be a large market for social analyses of computerization. Utopian analyses are most likely to domínate the popular and professional discourse. The empirically oriented accounts of social realism, social theory and analytical reduction, are likely to be much less common and also less commonly seen and read by computer professionals and policymakers. These genres are relatively subtle, portray a more ambiguous world, and have less rhetorical power to capture the imagination of readers. Even though they are more scientific, these empirically anchored genres don't seem to appeal to many scientists and engineers. It is ironic that computing -- often portrayed as an instrument of knowledge -- is primarily the subject of discourses whose knowledge claims are most suspect. Conversely, the discourses whose claims as valid knowledge are strongest seems to have much less appeal in the mass media and technological communities

Computation in Physical Systems: A Normative Mapping Account

The relationship between abstract formal procedures and the activities of actual physical systems has proved to be surprisingly subtle and controversial, and there are a number of competing accounts of when a physical system can be properly said to implement a mathematical formalism and hence perform a computation. I defend an account wherein computational descriptions of physical systems are high-level normative interpretations motivated by our pragmatic concerns. Furthermore, the criteria of utility and success vary according to our diverse purposes and pragmatic goals. Hence there is no independent or uniform fact to the matter, and I advance the ‘anti-realist’ conclusion that computational descriptions of physical systems are not founded upon deep ontological distinctions, but rather upon interest-relative human conventions. Hence physical computation is a ‘conventional’ rather than a ‘natural’ kind

The Inhuman Overhang: On Differential Heterogenesis and Multi-Scalar Modeling

As a philosophical paradigm, differential heterogenesis offers us a novel descriptive vantage with which to inscribe Deleuze’s virtuality within the terrain of “differential becoming,” conjugating “pure saliences” so as to parse economies, microhistories, insurgencies, and epistemological evolutionary processes that can be conceived of independently from their representational form. Unlike Gestalt theory’s oppositional constructions, the advantage of this aperture is that it posits a dynamic context to both media and its analysis, rendering them functionally tractable and set in relation to other objects, rather than as sedentary identities. Surveying the genealogy of differential heterogenesis with particular interest in the legacy of Lautman’s dialectic, I make the case for a reading of the Deleuzean virtual that departs from an event-oriented approach, galvanizing Sarti and Citti’s dynamic a priori vis-à-vis Deleuze’s philosophy of difference. Specifically, I posit differential heterogenesis as frame with which to examine our contemporaneous epistemic shift as it relates to multi-scalar computational modeling while paying particular attention to neuro-inferential modes of inductive learning and homologous cognitive architecture. Carving a bricolage between Mark Wilson’s work on the “greediness of scales” and Deleuze’s “scales of reality”, this project threads between static ecologies and active externalism vis-à-vis endocentric frames of reference and syntactical scaffolding

A Scientific Metaphysical Naturalisation of Information: with a indication-based semantic theory of information and an informationist statement of physicalism.

The objective of this thesis is to present a naturalised metaphysics of information, or to naturalise information, by way of deploying a scientific metaphysics according to which contingency is privileged and a-priori conceptual analysis is excluded (or at least greatly diminished) in favour of contingent and defeasible metaphysics. The ontology of information is established according to the premises and mandate of the scientific metaphysics by inference to the best explanation, and in accordance with the idea that the primacy of physics constraint accommodates defeasibility of theorising in physics. This metametaphysical approach is used to establish a field ontology as a basis for an informational structural realism. This is in turn, in combination with information theory and specifically mathematical and algorithmic theories of information, becomes the foundation of what will be called a source ontology, according to which the world is the totality of information sources. Information sources are to be understood as causally induced configurations of structure that are, or else reduce to and/or supervene upon, bounded (including distributed and non-contiguous) regions of the heterogeneous quantum field (all quantum fields combined) and fluctuating vacuum, all in accordance with the above-mentioned quantum field-ontic informational structural realism (FOSIR.) Arguments are presented for realism, physicalism, and reductionism about information on the basis of the stated contingent scientific metaphysics. In terms of philosophical argumentation, realism about information is argued for primarily by way of an indispensability argument that defers to the practice of scientists and regards concepts of information as just as indispensable in their theories as contingent representations of structure. Physicalism and reductionism about information are adduced by way of the identity thesis that identifies the substance of the structure of ontic structural realism as identical to selections of structure existing in re to combined heterogeneous quantum fields, and to the total heterogeneous quantum field comprised of all such fields. Adjunctly, an informational statement of physicalism is arrived at, and a theory of semantic information is proposed, according to which information is intrinsically semantic and alethically neutral

Towards explanatory pluralism in cognitive science

This thesis seeks to shed light on the intricate relationships holding between the various explanatory frameworks currently used within cognitive science. The driving question of this philosophical investigation concerns the nature and structure of cognitive explanation. More specifically, I attempt to clarify whether the sort of scientific explanations proposed for various cognitive phenomena at different levels of analysis or abstraction differ in significant ways from the explanations offered in other areas of scientific inquiry, such as biology, chemistry, or even physics. Thus, what I will call the problem of cognitive explanation, asks whether there is a distinctive feature that characterises cognitive explanations and distinguishes them from the explanatory schemas utilised in other scientific domains. I argue that the explanatory pluralism encountered within the daily practice of cognitive scientists has an essential normative dimension. The task of this thesis is to demonstrate that pluralism is an appropriate standard for the general explanatory project associated with cognitive science, which further implies defending and promoting the development of multiple explanatory schemas in the empirical study of cognitive phenomena

Restrições top-down e bottom-up na pesquisa mecanicista

Mechanisms play a crucial role in scientific research across various disciplines, and philosophers of science have devoted significant effort into understanding their ontology and epistemology. This paper examines the relationship between mechanisms and phenomena, highlighting the inherent dependence of mechanistic delineation on the characterization of phenomena. By acknowledging that characterizing phenomena is influenced by pragmatic considerations and research interests, the paper argues that mechanistic inquiry is inherently shaped by researchers’ perspectives. This dependence raises concerns about the possibility of a realist view of mechanisms. To address these concerns, the paper explores how top-down constraints, rooted in researchers’ interests and pragmatic concerns, can be balanced by bottom-up constraints derived from empirical considerations. In conclusion, I argue that the interplay between these constraints forms an empirical and realist counterweight to the perspectival nature of top-down constraints.Mecanismos desempenham um papel crucial na pesquisa científica em várias disciplinas, e filósofos da ciência têm se dedicado para entenderem sua ontologia e epistemologia. Este artigo examina a relação entre mecanismos e fenômenos, destacando a dependência inerente do delineamento mecanicista na caracterização de fenômenos. Ao reconhecer que a caracterização dos fenômenos é influenciada por considerações pragmáticas e interesses de pesquisa, o artigo argumenta que a pesquisa mecanicista é inerentemente moldada pelas perspectivas dos pesquisadores. Essa dependência levanta preocupações sobre a possibilidade de uma visão realista dos mecanismos. Para comportar essas preocupações, o artigo explora como as restrições top-down, enraizadas nos interesses e preocupações pragmáticas, podem ser balanceadas por restrições bottom-up derivadas de considerações empíricas. Concluindo, eu argumento que a interação entre essas restrições forma um contrapeso empírico e realista da perspectiva natural de restrições top-down.Mecanismos desempenham um papel crucial na pesquisa científica em várias disciplinas, e filósofos da ciência têm se dedicado para entenderem sua ontologia e epistemologia. Este artigo examina a relação entre mecanismos e fenômenos, destacando a dependência inerente do delineamento mecanicista na caracterização de fenômenos. Ao reconhecer que a caracterização dos fenômenos é influenciada por considerações pragmáticas e interesses de pesquisa, o artigo argumenta que a pesquisa mecanicista é inerentemente moldada pelas perspectivas dos pesquisadores. Essa dependência levanta preocupações sobre a possibilidade de uma visão realista dos mecanismos. Para comportar essas preocupações, o artigo explora como as restrições top-down, enraizadas nos interesses e preocupações pragmáticas, podem ser balanceadas por restrições bottom-up derivadas de considerações empíricas. Concluindo, eu argumento que a interação entre essas restrições forma um contrapeso empírico e realista da perspectiva natural de restrições top-down

On scratching your own itch

Following Massimo Banzi's comment that the Arduino development board might be seen as a means of ‘scratching your own itch’, this paper explores the concept of affect in relation to physical computing, and investigates the ways in which cybernetic and networked objects could be said to enact a series of process-philosophical and object-oriented tensions. In so doing it addresses the cultural saturation of Arduino and its employment in an array of institutional, artistic and activist contexts, and brings this to bear on the conflict between the process philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and the more directly object-oriented perspectives of Graham Harman, Ian Bogost and Bruno Latour. Framing the enquiry around the at once ethico-aesthetic and speculative realist questions of what it is to ‘scratch' and what it is to ‘itch', the paper examines micro- and macro-political agency in the context of physical computing—contrasting process philosophy's pronounced notion of affective, connective, creative differentiation with the black-boxed, withdrawn objects of object-oriented philosophy, and its quasi-causal mode of aesthetic interaction

On the edge: ICT and the transformation of professional legal education

Information and communications technology in professional legal education courses is perceived as problematic for teachers and course designers. It is so not because technology is inherently difficult or strange, but because at a deep level it can threaten the practice and identity of teachers. However the contextual challenges of their position, caught between academy and practice, may actually enable professional legal educators to take account of new technologies. The article discusses this proposal, using the example of the incremental development of a discussion forum. It suggests that the tools of pragmatist and transformative meta-theory may point the way forward for professional legal educators to create their own community of practice in the use of ICT in professional legal learning

Information and Design: Book Symposium on Luciano Floridi’s The Logic of Information

Purpose – To review and discuss Luciano Floridi’s 2019 book The Logic of Information: A Theory of Philosophy as Conceptual Design, the latest instalment in his philosophy of information (PI) tetralogy, particularly with respect to its implications for library and information studies (LIS). Design/methodology/approach – Nine scholars with research interests in philosophy and LIS read and responded to the book, raising critical and heuristic questions in the spirit of scholarly dialogue. Floridi responded to these questions. Findings – Floridi’s PI, including this latest publication, is of interest to LIS scholars, and much insight can be gained by exploring this connection. It seems also that LIS has the potential to contribute to PI’s further development in some respects. Research implications – Floridi’s PI work is technical philosophy for which many LIS scholars do not have the training or patience to engage with, yet doing so is rewarding. This suggests a role for translational work between philosophy and LIS. Originality/value – The book symposium format, not yet seen in LIS, provides forum for sustained, multifaceted and generative dialogue around ideas

Exploring Paths of Justice in the Digital Healthcare : A Socio-Legal Study of Swedish Online Doctors

Online doctor services, healthcare provided via smartphone apps, have gone from being peripheral to seriously challenging the conventional Swedish way of providing healthcare services. The accessibility of online doctors is unsurpassed but all patient groups have not gotten better access to healthcare thanks to online doctors.The aim of this study was to investigate how perceptions of the online doctor service Kry influence the willingness to use said service. This has been achieved through two online surveys conducted in 2016 and 2017, generating two study samples of 1,264 and 882 cases, respectively. Survey items operationalised perceptions of justice as well as benefits and risk beliefs associated with Kry. Statistical modelling was performed, applying PLS path analysis.Inspired by the meta-theoretical perspective of critical realism, the aim was also to explain the underlying mechanisms that cause online doctors as a Swedish healthcare phenomenon. This has been achieved through a descriptive analysis based on, for instance, legal documents, governmental reports, regional recommendations, statistics, and newspaper articles. The descriptive study has been guided by Alan Norrie’s sociology of law and the theoretical figure of law’sarchitectonic, where the legal is always also the ethico-legal, the juridico political, and the socio-legal.Results from the surveys and the subsequent statistical modelling showed that the willingness to use Kry was predicted by perceptions of distributive justice, i.e., whether the service was perceived as accessible and inclusive (equality), and whether it was perceived as providing value for time and money spent (equity). Furthermore, perceptions of equality and equity were mediated by perceptions of perceived trust and interest in Kry. Perceptions of procedural justice did not impact the willingness to use Kry to the same extent.The descriptive study showed that Swedish online doctors as a phenomenon has emerged in a health system shaped by ethico-legal, juridico-political, and what I call econo-legal conflicts. Swedish healthcare law is based on the principle stating that those in most need of care should receive care first and on the overarching goal stating that the healthcare should strive towards an equal healthcare for the entire population. With the free choice of care reform, implemented in 2010, the Swedish health system was transformed into a quasi market and the principle of demand, stating that the patient should receive healthcare when she demands it rather than when she needs it, has entered the health system under the label free choice. This ethical and normative ambivalence is found in and expressed through healthcare law.Unlike the health system at large, online doctors are well equipped for a healthcare that is becoming increasingly consumer-driven. This may explain why distributive justice predict the will to use Kry. Much like the online marketplaceexperience, patients are judging the online doctor experience based on value for time and money spent