UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO - STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
The Department of Computer Science & Engineering

CSE/PHI 484/584: PHILOSOPHY OF COMPUTER SCIENCE Spring 2007

SYLLABUS

Professor:
Dr. William J. Rapaport, 214 Bell Hall, 645-3180 x 112, rapaport@cse.buffalo.edu
Office Hours: Mondays, 11:00-11:50 a.m.; Tuesdays, 2:00-2:50 p.m.; Wednesdays, 11:00-11:50 a.m.; and by appointment.
Teaching Assistant:
Albert Goldfain, Trailer E, Desk 14, 645-3771, ag33@cse.buffalo.edu
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 11:00-11:50 a.m.; Thursdays, 12 noon-12:50 p.m.; or by appointment.

• Required:
  Martinich, A.P. (2005), Philosophical Writing: An Introduction (Malden, MA: Blackwell); ISBN 1-4051-3167-5.

• Recommended:
  1. Colburn, Timothy R. (2000), Philosophy and Computer Science (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe); ISBN 1-56324-991-X.

  2. Floridi, Luciano (1999), Philosophy and Computing: An Introduction (London: Routledge); ISBN 0-415-18025-2.
     • Webliography

  3. Floridi, Luciano (2004), The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Computing and Information (Malden, MA: Blackwell); ISBN 0-631-22919-1.

  4. Woodhouse, Mark B. (2007), A Preface to Philosophy, 8th edition (Wadsworth Publishing); ISBN-13: 9780495007142.

IMPORTANT DATES & TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:

Note: I have adjusted some of the dates and assignments below to reflect what we actually did in class, rather than on what I had planned or hoped to do:-)

DAY	MO	DT	TOPICS	READINGS
W	Jan	17	Introduction. What is philosophy?	Readings
F		19	What is philosophy? (cont'd) What is philosophy of computer science?	Readings
M		22	What is computer science? (Intro; Newell et al.; Knuth)	Readings
W		24	What is computer science? (cont'd) (Newell & Simon, Hartmanis & Lin, Brooks, Shapiro)	Readings
F		26	What is computer science? (summary) What is science? (sci vs. non-sci, description vs. explanation, instrumentalism vs. realism, sci. method (Kemeny))	Readings
M		29	What is science? (cont'd) (Kemeny's sci. method, Popper, Kuhn, (non-)emp. sci.) What is engineering?	Readings
W		31	What is engineering? (cont'd) (Bunge, Davis, Petroski, Loui)	Readings
F	Feb	2	What is a computer? Part I: "Engineering" history of computers Discuss Term Paper	Readings
M		5	What is a computer? Part I: "Logical" history of computers Position Paper #1 assigned	Readings
W		7	What is an algorithm?: What is computation? Great Insights of CS	(no new readings) ...but you might find Rapaport 2007 of interest.
F		9	What is an algorithm?: Great Insights of CS (cont'd)	(no new readings)
M		12	What is an algorithm? (cont'd): Structured Programming, Peer Editing Week in recitations (i.e., first draft of Position Paper #1 due in lecture! —and similarly throughout the rest of the semester)	(no new readings)
W		14	What is an algorithm? (cont'd): Structured programming; Halting Problem	(no new readings)
F		16	Turing Machines: slow reading of Turing 1936 optional term-paper proposal due	(no new readings)
M		19	Turing machines; R1: revision of Position Paper #1 due in recit.; Position Paper #2 assigned	(no new readings)
W		21	TM (cont'd) R2: revision of Position Paper #1 due in recit.	Readings
F		23	What is a computer? Part IIa: Is everything a computer? (Searle 1990)	Readings
M		26	What is a computer? Part IIa (Searle 1990) (concluded) Peer Editing Week in recitations; Term Paper-proposal revisions due	Readings
W		28	What is a computer? Part IIb: Not everything is a computer! (Hayes 1997) Part IIc: Is the universe a computer? (Lloyd 2004, Weinberg 2002)	Readings
F	Mar	2	What is a procedure (algorithm, recipe)? (Cleland 1993)	Readings
M		5	What is a proc/alg/recipe? (cont'd) (Preston 2006) R1: Revision of Position Paper #2 due in recit; Position Paper #3 assigned	Readings
W		7	Hypercomputation: Copeland 2002, Davis 200x R2: Revision of Position Paper #2 due in recit	Readings
F		9	Hypercomputation (cont'd): Wegner 1997, Kugel 2002	Readings
SSMTWRFSS		10-18	Spring Break
M		19	What is a computer program? What is implementation? (Chalmers) Peer Editing Week in recitations	Readings
W		21	What is implementation? (cont'd) (Rapaport)	Readings
F		23	Implementation (concl'd) Why is software "soft" & hardware "hard"?	Readings
M		26	Software vs. hardware (cont'd) Can computer programs be copyrighted? R1: Revision of Position Paper #3 due in recit; Position Paper #4 assigned	Readings
W		28	Can computer programs be copyrighted? Can computer programs be patented? (concl'd) R2: Revision of Position Paper #3 due in recit;	Readings
F		30	Are computer programs theories? LAST "R" DATE	Readings
M	Apr	2	Are comp. progs. theories? (cont'd): Moor What is the program-world relationship? (Smith) Peer Editing Week in recitations	Readings
W		4	What is the prog-world rel'n? (concl'd) Can programs be verified? (Fetzer)	Readings
F		6	Can programs be verified? (cont'd) Computer Ethics (I): Should we trust decisions made by computers? (Moor 1979)	Readings
M		9	Should we trust decisions made by computers? (cont'd) Revision of Position Paper #4 due in recitation this week; Position Paper #5 assigned; Start bringing in your Reading Journals :-)	Readings
W		11	Should we trust decisions made by computers? (cont'd) Philosophy of AI: The Turing test	Readings
F		13	NO LECTURE! Please attend CSE Grad Conference (at Center for Tomorrow)!	Readings
M		16	Philosophy of AI: The Turing test (cont'd) Peer Editing Week in recitations Don't forget your reading journals!	Readings
W		18	Chinese Room Argument Last day to bring in your Reading Journals!	Readings
F		20	CRA (cont'd)	Readings
M		23	Computer Ethics (II): Is it moral to build an AI? R1: Revision of Position Paper #5 due in recit Reading journals returned	Readings
W		25	Is it moral to build an AI? (cont'd) R2: Revision of Position Paper #5 due in recit	Readings
F		27	Is it moral to build an AI? (concl'd) Summary & review	Readings
M		30	Last Class: Summary & review (cont'd); if time: Smith 2002	Readings
Th	May	3	Optional final exam: 8:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m., O'Brian 109 XOR optional term paper due; AND optional revised position paper due

1. There are a lot of topics to cover, and not nearly as many lectures as there are topics. Consequently, in lectures, I will only be able to skim the surface of the issues. But I will assign a lot of reading, which I will expect you all to do.

   No matter how far we stray from the tentative schedule, if you do the readings at the assigned times, you will be able to finish everything by the end of the semester.

2. Reading Journal:

   To help you keep track of your reading and the ideas you have while reading, it will be useful for you to keep a "Reading Journal": For each item you read, copy interesting quotes (or at least full references to them) and—most importantly—your comments on them and on the issues raised in each item you read. (For suggestions on how to do this, see the "Keep a Notebook" section of my "How to Study" guide on the Web.) An alternative is to write a 1-paragraph commentary on each reading: some insight or idea that struck you from the reading, an extension or application of the ideas, a question that the reading inspired (perhaps informed by some further reading on your part), or any other commentary inspired by the reading. The commentaries should not be summaries of the reading.(*)

   I reserve the right to collect these Journals at any time during, or at the end of, the semester and to include them in the grade calculation.

3. There are 3 levels at which you can keep up with the reading assignments:
   1. Minimal: Just read the "Required" items.

   2. Medium: Read at the minimal level, plus read the "Strongly recommended" items.

   3. Maximal: Read at the medium level, plus read some or all of the "Recommended" readings

   You should include all the Required readings in your Reading Journal; you may include any Strongly Recommended or Recommended readings, too.

• For general advice on how to study for any course, see my web page, "How to Study".

• For advice on how to read both philosophy and computer-science writings, see "How to Read (a Computer Science Text)".

1. You will be expected to:
   1. attend all lectures (attendance will be taken),
   2. participate in class discussions, and
   3. complete all readings and assignments on time.

2. Your writing assignments will include:
   1. the Reading Journal,
   2. approximately 5 short position papers (about 1 page each),
   3. and an optional final exam XOR an optional term paper.

3. The short position papers will be written in two stages:
   1. A "before" paper in which you will be asked to give your present opinions on the issues.

   2. This will be followed by class discussion during recitations ("peer-editing" sessions), after which you will write an "after" paper in which you will revise the first draft of your position paper based on your readings, the peer-editing sessions, and the class discussions.

   Grades on the essays will be a function of both your ideas and how well you defend and express them. You will have an opportunity to revise some (but not all) of these.

4. All position papers and assignments will be announced in lecture. Therefore, be sure to get a classmate's phone number or email address (for instance, 1 or 2 people sitting next to you in class, whoever they are!) so that you will not miss assignments in the unlikely event that you miss a class.

   Most, but not necessarily all, assignments will also be posted to the course website or newsgroup.

5. Email list:

   You will automatically be placed on an email list (a "Listserv") for the course. If you do not normally read email at the email address that UB has as your official address, please either do so for this course, or else have your mail forwarded. I will use this list as my main means of communicating with you out of class. And you can use it to communicate with the rest of us.

   You may send questions and comments that are of general interest to the entire class using the Listserv: Just send them to:

   cse584-sp07-list@listserv.buffalo.edu

   You can also send email just to me, at:

   rapaport@cse.buffalo.edu

   In any case, be sure to fill in the subject line, beginning with "CSE 584: " so that my mailer doesn't think it's spam.

   If you send email just to me that I deem to be of general interest, I will feel free to remail it to the email list along with my reply unless you explicitly tell me that you want to remain anonymous, in which case I may choose to remail it to the email list preserving your anonymity.

   The emails will be archived at the listserv website, and I will also archive them at http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/584/S07/EMAIL/.

   For more information, read the Listserv Information webpage.

6. Students should notify Prof. Rapaport within the first two weeks of class if they have a disability which would make it difficult to carry out course work as outlined (requiring note-takers, readers, extended test time).

I will post more information on both the mechanics of the position papers (and peer editing sessions) and the term paper later in the semester.

For further information on my philosophy of grading, see my web document on "How to Grade"

Incompletes:

For more information on Incomplete policies, see the Graduate School web page, "Incomplete Grades".

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

(*) The idea and wording for such reading-commentaries are borrowed from the assignments for Stuart M. Shieber's course "Can Machines Think". [Back to text]