Updated CFP: IACAP 2014

Deadline for abstracts & symposia: 15.3.14

The Annual Meeting of the International Association for Computing and Philosophy

Anatolia College/ACT
Thessaloniki, Greece
July 2-4, 2014
http://www.pt-ai.org/iacap/2014/

Organisation: Vincent C. Müller & the IACAP Executive Committee

Computing technologies both raise philosophical questions and shed light on traditional philosophical problems; it is this two-way relation that is the focus of IACAP meetings since 1986.

We invite submission of abstracts, as well as submission of proposals for symposia on computing and philosophy. This year’s meeting will have a single main track, focusing on topics which proved to be at the core of IACAP member’s interest. In parallel, the symposia will focus on more specific topics, organised autonomously by members or member groups. One symposium will be dedicated to the work of young researchers.

We will publish selected papers in a volume of the ‘Synthese Library’ (Springer). Authors of accepted abstracts will be invited to submit a full paper for peer-review to this volume.

Some abstracts will be accepted for presentation as posters. For papers, we foresee slots of 30 minutes per talk, including discussion.

Invited Speakers

Judith Simon (ITU Kopenhagen)
Hector Zenil (Karolinska Institute, Stockholm)
Selmer Bringsjord (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY) – Covey Award Winner
Gualterio Piccinini (U Missouri- St. Louis) – Simon Award Winner
Simon Knight (Open University) – Brian Michael Goldberg Memorial Award Winner

Gregory Chatin (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) – symposium speaker
S. Barry Cooper (University of Leeds) – symposium speaker

Symposia:

  1. Young reseachers symposium – Organiser: VCM
  2. History and philosophy of computing – Organisers: Giuseppe Primiero and Liesbeth De Mol
  3. Anti-reductionist computational metaphors in evolution, metamathematics and the contemporary human self-image – Organiser: Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic
  4. Robotics: from Science Fiction to Legal Fact – Organisers: Sabine Thuermel, Fiorella Battaglia, Barbara Henry
  5. … more to be confirmed

Topics of interest:
•    Artificial Intelligence
•    Artificial Life
•    Cognitive Science, Computation & Cognition
•    Computational Modeling in Science and Social Science
•    Computer-Mediated Communication
•    Distance Education and Electronic Pedagogy
•    Ethical Problems and Societal Impact of Computation and Information
•    History of Computing
•    Information Culture and Society
•    Logic
•    Metaphysics of Computing
•    Philosophy of Information
•    Philosophy of Information Technology
•    Robotics
•    Virtual Reality
… and related issues

Format
For abstracts, we request anonymous submission of 600-1000 words (plus references) in plain text or PDF, plus a short abstract of up to 120 words. All submissions will be reviewed double-blind by at least two members of the programme committee.

For symposia, please provide a brief motivation (ca. 300 words), a list of envisaged speakers, and indication of time needed (full day, half day, etc.).

Dates
Submission of symposium proposals: 15 March 2014
Submissions of abstracts: 15 March 2014 [extended]
Notification of acceptance or rejection: 14 April 2014
(for symposia, we respond asap)

Submission on EasyChair at https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=iacap2014

More details on http://www.pt-ai.org/iacap/2014/online-submission

Call for Nominations: The Brian Michael Goldberg Memorial Award

The International Association for Computing and Philosophy is proud to present the “Brian Michael Goldberg Memorial Award” to graduate students in recognition of outstanding achievements in the areas of Computing and Philosophy.

This award is sponsored by the Department of Philosophy at Carnegie Mellon and carries a $500 USD stipend, which will be presented each year at one of the IACAP conferences. Nominees and applicants are welcome from around the world.

This Award was made possible by a generous gift from Dr. Gerald and Nancy Goldberg in memory of their son, Brian Michael Goldberg. In their words:

Brian was a twenty-two year old student who was admitted to Carnegie Mellon University in 1991 to the doctoral program in philosophy. He died unexpectedly before he could realize his dream of attending Carnegie Mellon. Brian was an independent thinker who loved competition and a good challenge. Throughout his life, he found it exciting to enter and win contests. He loved challenging his mind, especially by studying philosophy, mathematics and logic. He loved challenging his creativity through photography, painting and theatre arts. He loved challenging his body by learning such diverse sports as wrestling, fencing and scuba diving. He loved debating and challenging others to think in new ways and had seriously considered becoming a university professor. To honor who he was and what he loved, this Goldberg Memorial Award is offered to challenge and motivate other graduate students in Brian’s chosen field of study.

To nominate, please send names and website URLs (or CVs) to: berkich@gmail.com by February the 28th 2014.

For more information, please see http://www.iacap.org/awards/

Call for Papers

Call for Papers: IACAP 2014
– deadline extended to 15.3.14 [on Feb 25th] –

The Annual Meeting of the International Association for Computing and Philosophy
http://www.iacap.org/

Anatolia College/ACT
Thessaloniki, Greece
July 2-4, 2014
http://www.pt-ai.org/iacap/2014/

Organisation: Vincent C. Müller & the IACAP Executive Committee

Computing technologies both raise philosophical questions and shed light on traditional philosophical problems; it is this two-way relation that is the focus of IACAP meetings.

We invite submission of abstracts, as well as submission of proposals for symposia on computing and philosophy. This year’s meeting will have a single main track, focusing on topics which proved to be at the core of IACAP member’s interest. In parallel, the symposia will focus on more specific topics, organised autonomously by members or member groups. One symposium will be dedicated to the work of young researchers.

We will publish selected papers in a volume of the ‘Synthese Library’ (Springer). Authors of accepted abstracts will be invited to submit a full paper for peer-review to this volume.

Some abstracts will be accepted for presentation as posters. For papers, we foresee slots of 30 minutes per talk, including discussion.

Invited Speakers

Judith Simon (ITU Kopenhagen)
Hector Zenil (Karolinska Institute, Stockholm)
Selmer Bringsjord (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY) – (Covey Award Winner)
Gualterio Piccinini (U Missouri- St. Louis) – (Simon Award Winner)
Gregory Chatin (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) – symposium speaker
S. Barry Cooper (University of Leeds) – symposium speaker

Topics of interest:
•    Artificial Intelligence
•    Artificial Life
•    Cognitive Science, Computation & Cognition
•    Computational Modeling in Science and Social Science
•    Computer-Mediated Communication
•    Distance Education and Electronic Pedagogy
•    Ethical Problems and Societal Impact of Computation and Information
•    History of Computing
•    Information Culture and Society
•    Logic
•    Metaphysics of Computing
•    Philosophy of Information
•    Philosophy of Information Technology
•    Robotics
•    Virtual Reality
… and related issues

FORMAT
For abstracts, we request anonymous submission of 600-1000 words (plus references) in plain text or PDF, plus a short abstract of up to 120 words. All submissions will be reviewed double-blind by at least two members of the programme committee. All submissions of paper abstracts – whether to the main track or to symposia – are made centrally on the same site and all reviewing takes place on that site.

For symposia, please provide a brief motivation (ca. 300 words), a list of envisaged speakers, and indication of time needed (full day, half day, etc.). The submission procedure and reviewing for symposia will be taken care of by their organisers – but within the structure provided by IACAP and the submission system for this conference.

DATES
Submission of symposium proposals: 28 February 2014
Submissions of abstracts: 15 March 2014
Notification of acceptance or rejection: 14 April 2014

Submission on EasyChair at https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=iacap2014

More details on http://www.pt-ai.org/iacap/2014/online-submission

The 2014 Annual Meeting of the International Association for Computing and Philosophy

Anatolia College/ACT
Thessaloniki, Greece
July 2-4, 2014

http://www.pt-ai.org/iacap/2014/

This year’s meeting of the International Association for Computing and Philosophy will be held at Anatolia College/ACT in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Computing technologies both raise philosophical questions and elucidate traditional philosophical problems. IACAP meetings emphasise this two-way relationship, providing an opportunity for researchers in multiple fields to share new work in an interdisciplinary setting.

We invite both abstract submissions and symposium proposals in areas at the intersection of computing and philosophy. This year’s meeting will have a single main track focusing on topics central to IACAP membership interests. Symposia will focus on more specific topics, organised autonomously by members or member groups. One symposium will be dedicated to the work of young researchers. Some abstracts will be accepted for presentation as posters. Paper presentations will be allotted 30 minutes, including discussion.

Selected papers will be published in a volume of the ‘Synthese Library’ (Springer). Authors of accepted abstracts will be invited to submit a full paper for peer-review to this volume. IACAP is also soliciting nominations for a number of awards (see below).

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Artificial Life
  • Cognitive Science, Computation & Cognition
  • Computational Modeling in Science and Social Science
  • Computer-Mediated Communication
  • Distance Education and Electronic Pedagogy
  • Ethical Problems and Societal Impact of Computation and Information
  • History of Computing
  • Information Culture and Society
  • Logic
  • Metaphysics of Computing
  • Philosophy of Information
  • Philosophy of Information Technology
  • Robotics
  • Virtual Reality

… and related issues

Format

For abstracts, we request anonymous submission of 600-1000 words (plus references) in plain text or PDF, plus a short abstract of up to 120 words. All submissions will be reviewed double-blind by at least two members of the programme committee. All submissions of paper abstracts – whether to the main track or to symposia – are made centrally on the same site and all reviewing takes place on that site.

For symposia, please provide a brief motivation (ca. 300 words), a list of envisaged speakers, and indication of time needed (full day, half day, etc.). The submission procedure and reviewing for symposia will be taken care of by their organisers – but within the structure provided by IACAP and the submission system for this conference.

Dates

Submission of symposium proposals: 1. February 2014
Submissions of abstracts: 1 March 2014
Notification of acceptance or rejection: 28 February for symposia, 31 March for papers.

Submissions may be sent through EasyChair: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=iacap2014

More details can be found at http://www.pt-ai.org/iacap/2014/online-submission

Call for Nominations: The Covey Award

The Covey Award recognizes senior scholars with a substantial record of innovative research in the field of computing and philosophy broadly conceived.

Covey Award candidates may be proposed either by their home institution or by fellow scholars of computing and philosophy who are well-versed in the candidate’s work.

To nominate, please send names and website URLs (or CVs) to berkich@gmail.com by 15 January 2014.

For more information, please see http://www.iacap.org/awards/

Call for Nominations: The Herbert A. Simon Award

The Herbert A. Simon Award for Outstanding Research in Computing and Philosophy recognizes scholars at an early stage of their academic career who are likely to reshape debates at the nexus of Computing and Philosophy by their original research.

Nominations for the Herbert A. Simon Award may be proposed either by academic institutions or by colleagues with some expertise in computing and philosophy.

To nominate, please send names and website URLs (or CVs) to berkich@gmail.com by 15 January 2014.

For more information, please see http://www.iacap.org/awards/

IACAP 2013 Election results

The following are the results of our recent elections.

  • President elect: Mariarosaria Taddeo
  • Director elect, Society for Machines and Mentality: Paul Bello
  • Member at Large elect: Johnny Søraker
  • Treasurer (acclaimed): Mark Waser
  • Membership and Promotions Coordinator (acclaimed): Derek Jones
  • Technical Director (appointed): Don Berkich

Congratulations to everyone.

The positions take effect on September 16, 2013.

The democratic functioning of our organization depends on people taking an interest and participating. We thank everyone who participated in the election process.

IACAP 2013 Election

Paying members of IACAP  will shortly receive ballots for voting in the 2013 IACAP election. The nominees are as follows. The link to the e-ballots will contain a unique identifier and sent to paying members by email.

President:

Vincent C. Müller:

http://www.sophia.de

Vincent C. Müller’s research focuses on the nature and future of computational systems, particularly on the prospects of artificial intelligence. He is the coordinator of the European Network for Cognitive Systems, Robotics and Interaction (2009-2014) with over 800 members, funded by the European Union through two FP7 projects with 3.9 mil. € (www.eucognition.org). In this role, he also organises two large conferences each year. Separately, he organizes a series of conferences on the ‘Theory and Philosophy of AI’ (www.pt-ai.org). The 2013 event had over 100 paper submissions and will feature prominent speakers (Daniel Dennett, Stuart Russell, etc.).

Müller has published a number of articles on the philosophy of computing, the philosophy of AI and cognitive science, the philosophy of language, and related areas. He has edited several volumes on the theory of cognitive systems and artificial intelligence (more are forthcoming) and is preparing a monograph on the fundamental problems of AI and. He studied philosophy with cognitive science, linguistics and history at the universities of Marburg, Hamburg, London and Oxford. Müller will host the 2014 IACAP conference in Thessaloniki, July 2-4.

Mariarosaria Taddeo:
http://taddeo.philosophyofinformation.net

I am Research Fellow in Cyber Security and Ethics at the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick and Research Associate at the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford. From 2010 to 2012, I was Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Hertfordshire, where I worked on the analysis of the ethical implications of cyber warfare. In 2009, I obtained a European PhD from the University of Padua and the University of Oxford, with a thesis entitled “The Ethics and Epistemology of Trust in Artificial Distributed Systems”.

I have been a member of IACAP since 2006, serving as membership and promotions coordinator from 2010 to 2013, as of last March I also serve as pro tempore treasurer. Over the past years, IACAP showed to be a solid association with a growing number of members. If I will be elected president, I will work to consolidate the results achieved so far by the executive board. I will also work to foster collaborations between senior and junior members of the association and to ensure a competitive and high-quality level of the annual meetings. I will pursue and promote opportunities for the circulation and publication of the research developed by IACAP members, such as special issues, conference proceedings and edited volumes. At the same time, I will seek collaborations with other leading associations in the fields of philosophy of computing, philosophy of AI and information and computer ethics, so to attract the interest of a greater number of scholars.

Director, Society for Machines and Mentality

Paul Bello
http://www.pbello.com

My interests lie at the interface of philosophy of mind, computation, and social cognition. I’m particularly fascinated by the human capacity to detach from the real world in order to consider the past, possible futures, pretenses, hypotheticals, counterfactual alternatives, and the contents of other minds. Most of my research is focused on building computational accounts of mental-state ascription that are consistent with developmental, behavioral, and neuropsychological data. I also spend considerable time applying these models to related topics in higher-level cognition; most especially to cognitive models of human moral judgment.

I received my bachelors of science in Computer and Systems Engineering with a dual major in Philosophy from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1999. I stayed on at RPI and completed my M.S. in Computer Science in 2001, and received the Ph.D. in Cognitive Science in 2005 under the supervision of Selmer Bringsjord. In the fall of 2002, I was hired as a research computer scientist at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Information Directorate in Rome, NY. While at Rome, I worked on projects involving nonmonotonic reasoning about obligations, and My interests lie at the interface of philosophy of mind, computation, and social cognition. I’m particularly fascinated by the human capacity to detach from the real world in order to consider the past, possible futures, pretenses, hypotheticals, counterfactual alternatives, and the contents of other minds. Most of my research is focused on building computational accounts of mental-state ascription that are consistent with developmental, behavioral, and neuropsychological data. I also spend considerable time applying these models to related topics in higher-level cognition; most especially to cognitive models of human moral judgment.

Vincent C. Müller
http://www.sophia.de

Vincent C. Müller’s research focuses on the nature and future of computational systems, particularly on the prospects of artificial intelligence. He is the coordinator of the European Network for Cognitive Systems, Robotics and Interaction (2009-2014) with over 800 members, funded by the European Union through two FP7 projects with 3.9 mil. € (www.eucognition.org). In this role, he also organises two large conferences each year. Separately, he organizes a series of conferences on the ‘Theory and Philosophy of AI’ (www.pt-ai.org). The 2013 event had over 100 paper submissions and will feature prominent speakers (Daniel Dennett, Stuart Russell, etc.).

Müller has published a number of articles on the philosophy of computing, the philosophy of AI and cognitive science, the philosophy of language, and related areas. He has edited several volumes on the theory of cognitive systems and artificial intelligence (more are forthcoming) and is preparing a monograph on the fundamental problems of AI and. He studied philosophy with cognitive science, linguistics and history at the universities of Marburg, Hamburg, London and Oxford. Müller will host the 2014 IACAP conference in Thessaloniki, July 2-4.

Member at Large:

Paul Bello
http://www.pbello.com

My interests lie at the interface of philosophy of mind, computation, and social cognition. I’m particularly fascinated by the human capacity to detach from the real world in order to consider the past, possible futures, pretenses, hypotheticals, counterfactual alternatives, and the contents of other minds. Most of my research is focused on building computational accounts of mental-state ascription that are consistent with developmental, behavioral, and neuropsychological data. I also spend considerable time applying these models to related topics in higher-level cognition; most especially to cognitive models of human moral judgment.

I received my bachelors of science in Computer and Systems Engineering with a dual major in Philosophy from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1999. I stayed on at RPI and completed my M.S. in Computer Science in 2001, and received the Ph.D. in Cognitive Science in 2005 under the supervision of Selmer Bringsjord. In the fall of 2002, I was hired as a research computer scientist at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Information Directorate in Rome, NY. While at Rome, I worked on projects involving nonmonotonic reasoning about obligations, and My interests lie at the interface of philosophy of mind, computation, and social cognition. I’m particularly fascinated by the human capacity to detach from the real world in order to consider the past, possible futures, pretenses, hypotheticals, counterfactual alternatives, and the contents of other minds. Most of my research is focused on building computational accounts of mental-state ascription that are consistent with developmental, behavioral, and neuropsychological data. I also spend considerable time applying these models to related topics in higher-level cognition; most especially to cognitive models of human moral judgment.

Vincent C. Müller
http://www.sophia.de

Vincent C. Müller’s research focuses on the nature and future of computational systems, particularly on the prospects of artificial intelligence. He is the coordinator of the European Network for Cognitive Systems, Robotics and Interaction (2009-2014) with over 800 members, funded by the European Union through two FP7 projects with 3.9 mil. € (www.eucognition.org). In this role, he also organises two large conferences each year. Separately, he organizes a series of conferences on the ‘Theory and Philosophy of AI’ (www.pt-ai.org). The 2013 event had over 100 paper submissions and will feature prominent speakers (Daniel Dennett, Stuart Russell, etc.).

Müller has published a number of articles on the philosophy of computing, the philosophy of AI and cognitive science, the philosophy of language, and related areas. He has edited several volumes on the theory of cognitive systems and artificial intelligence (more are forthcoming) and is preparing a monograph on the fundamental problems of AI and. He studied philosophy with cognitive science, linguistics and history at the universities of Marburg, Hamburg, London and Oxford. Müller will host the 2014 IACAP conference in Thessaloniki, July 2-4.

Johnny Hartz Søraker
http://soraker.com

Dr. Johnny Hartz Søraker is Assistant Professor of Philosophy of technology at the Department of Philosophy, University of Twente, where he also did his PhD  on the epistemology, ontology and ethics of virtual worlds. The dissertation also focusses on the potential impact of technology on personal well-being, a topic that has since become his main research interest. Although inspired by all kinds of philosophy, the main research interests lie in the intersections between Information Technology, on the one hand, and both theoretical and practical philosophy, on the other. Søraker often grounds his work in psychological research, especially work in the field of Positive Psychology, and he is working on developing this toward a comprehensive methodology (tentatively entitled ‘Prudential-Empirical Ethics of Technology (PEET)’).

Søraker has published and lectured extensively on issues such as the ethical, societal and psychological effects of technology (especially related to the notion of well-being), Internet governance, history of philosophy and psychology,  professional ethics in  several disciplines, and the moral status of information. He is also the host and producer of SuchThatCast – Philosophers’ Podcast, a series of audio interviews dedicated to getting to know some of the most influential philosophers (broadly speaking) of today (including several central philosophers of technology). Søraker has previously served as IACAP’s technical manager, and organized the European CAP conferences in 2006 and 2007.

Treasurer:

Mark Waser (no other nominees — acclaimed).

Membership and Promotions Co-ordinator:

Derek Jones  (no other nominees — acclaimed)

Technical Director:

Don Berkich (appointed)

Winners of Herbert Simon award and Covey award announced

We are pleased to announce that this year’s recipient of the Covey award is Margaret Boden (previous winners: Luciano Floridi, Terrell Bynum, John R. Searle, Edward N. Zalta). Furthermore, the Herbert A. Simon award is being awarded to Judith Simon (previous winners: Patrick Allo, John Sullins, Mariarosaria Taddeo) and the Goldberg award has been awarded to Nir Fresco (previous winners: Ryan Tonkens, Cameron Buckner, Derek Jones,Matteo Turilli,Chih-Chun Chen and Rory Smead).