Philosophy, privacy, and pervasive computing

Philosophers and others concerned with the moral good of personal privacy most often see threats to privacy raised by the development of pervasive computing as primarily being threats to the loss of control over personal information. Two reasons in particular lend this approach plausibility. One reason is that the parallels between pervasive computing and ordinary networked computing, where everyday transactions over the Internet raise concerns about personal information privacy, appear stronger than their differences. Another reason is that the individual devices which can become linked in a pervasive computing environment: PDAs, GPS sensors, RFID chips/readers, publicly-located video surveillance cameras, Internet-enabled mobile phones, and the like, each raise threats to individual privacy. Without discounting the value of this approach, this paper aims to propose an alternative; and, as a result of recasting the threat to individual privacy from pervasive computing, to identify other, and deeper, moral goods that pervasive computing puts at risk that otherwise might remain concealed. In particular, I argue that pervasive computing threatens to compromise what I call existential autonomy: the right to decide for ourselves at least some of the existential conditions under which we form and develop our ways of life, including our relations to information technology. From this perspective, some moral goods at stake in protecting privacy in an environment of pervasive computing emerge that have less to do with furthering human well-being through the promotion of self-identity and subjectivity, than with stimulating curiosity, receptivity to difference, and, most broadly, openness to the world.     

Philosophy,structure, and examples of relegated control

With the availability of fast and economical microprocessors, effective design of systems that are immune to failure of individual or groups of sensors, actuators, or computational units is feasible. The system can be made tolerant of the failure of individual subsystems, but functions with reduced efficiency.One way to realize this design is to formulate the dynamics of the systems in larger than minimal state spaces, to process the large number of sensory inputs needed, to relegate control functions to different inputs and to provide reliable communication among the subsystems. The imbedding of the state of the system in a larger state space allows the system to have direct access to its minimal state and indirect access by computing it, hence the need for many sensors. The sensors themselves can then measure directly physical parameters of interest or indirectly by providing a processor with measurements from which the processor computes the needed parameter.This paper deals with the concept of relegation of control as a special kind of generalized nonlinear decoupling control.A structure is proposed that relegates control of specific functions to subsets of inputs. The concept is illustrated by a nonlinear robotic example where the control of constraint forces (due to contact, grip, hold, touch, etc.), control of trajectory of motion, control of stability, and control of collision avoidance are relegated to different inputs. The inputs can be the actuator outputs of force and torque applied to the mechanical system or alternatively the inputs to the actuators themselves. Any conflict in fulfilling the four functions is arbitrated at a higher level. Compromises among the functions, priorities of functions over each other and assignments of inputs in primary, secondary, or as lower contributors to function are elaborated, programmed, and stored. This structure allows integration of a certain amount of intelligence in a robotic system at the lowest level.This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant ECS-820-1240 and in part by the Department of Electrical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, U.S.A.     

Philosophy, activism, and computer and information specialists revisited

A number of themes have been on my mind in recent months, and I have made them centerpieces of a number of things I have written lately. In a Ubiquity essay Durbin (ACM Ubiquity 8(45):26, 2007a), I said that I am happy that there are computer professionals who are activists, joining with others to solve the technosocial problems that vex our society, including problems of the computer and information professions. I here moved beyond that to make a new claim about needed changes.     

Georges Rey,Contemporary Philosophy of Mind: A Contentiously Classical Approach,Contemporary Philosophy Series

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Timothy R. Colburn,Philosophy and Computer Science

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心灵即计算：哲学，逻辑和实践

论证心灵是可计算的,因而为计算作为一门学科提供更丰富的内涵和实例,使计算不在局限于通常的自然过程而进入到人类心理领域.在哲学上,论述心灵哲学中的物理主义,采用最小立场即以依附(Supervene)来解释心灵现象何以是物理的;在逻辑上,我们首次以Church-Turing-Deutsch原理为基础来使Church-Turing论题与实际的物理系统联系起来,从而使本文的结论与量子计算相适合,也使可计算概念与物理学理论相协调,而这正是由Church-Tur-ing论题所定义的可计算概念所没有的地方.还讨论了认知逻辑在使人类情感、感觉和遗忘和记忆等方面的形式化方面的一些工作,这在知识表达和推理以及分布式计算等领域是一个很重要的方向之一.     

Nicholas Bunnin and E. P. Tsui-James,eds., The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy,Blackwell Companions to Philosophy

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Embedding Fields: Underlying Philosophy,Mathematics, and Applications to Psychology,Physiology, and Anatomy

Abstract

This article reviews results on a learning theory that can be derived from simple psychological postulates and given a suggestive neurophysiological, anatomical, and biochemical interpretation. The neural networks described can discriminate, learn, simultaneously remember, and perform individually upon demand any number of space-time patterns of essentially arbitrary complexity. A general theorem expressing this fact is stated in the language of nonlinear functional-differential systems. Applications of the theory to various empirical problems are mentioned; e.g., serial learning, stimulus sampling, lateral inhibition, energy–entropy dependence, reaction time, transmitter production and release, spatiotemporal masking, operant and respondant conditioning, influences of under- or over-arousal on learning.     

软件工程与哲学

软件工程虽然解决了软件危机问题,况且近三十年发展,软件工程积累了相当多的方法和经验,但这些方法和经验也不是一成不变的灵丹妙药,软件工程师只有不断的实践选择合适的方法,才能开发出优秀的软件来。怎样才能选择出合适的方法来呢,重要的办法就是软件工程师要用哲学思想来贯穿软件工程开发的全过程。     

The Changing Meaning of Privacy, Identity and Contemporary Feminist Philosophy

This paper draws upon contemporary feminist philosophy in order to consider the changing meaning of privacy and its relationship to identity, both online and offline. For example, privacy is now viewed by European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) as a right, which when breached can harm us by undermining our ability to maintain social relations. I briefly outline the meaning of privacy in common law and under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in order to show the relevance of contemporary feminist thought, in particular the image of selfhood that stresses its relationality. I argue that the meaning of privacy is in the process of altering as a result of a number of contingent factors including both changes in technology, particularly computer mediated communication (CMC), and changes in the status of women. This latter point can be illustrated by the feminist critique of the traditional reluctance of the liberal state to interfere with violence and injustice within the ??privacy?? of the home. In asking the question: ??how is the meaning of ??privacy?? changing??? I consider not only contemporary legal case law but also Thomas Nagel??s influential philosophical analysis of privacy. Nagel??s position is useful because of the detail with which he outlines what privacy used to mean, whilst bemoaning its passing. I agree with his view that its meaning is changing but am critical of his perspective. In particular, I challenge his claim regarding the traditional ??neutrality of language?? and consider it in the context of online identity.     

Terence Horgan and John Tienson,Connectionism and the Philosophy of Psychology

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David Braddon-Mitchell and Frank Jackson,The Philosophy of Mind and Cognition

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藤草哲学

宿雾（Cebu）是座被大海和群山环绕的岛屿，海边总会有人撑开彩色的沙滩床，晒着热带的阳光，与身边的椰林和蕉叶一同生长。     

George Graham,Philosophy of Mind: An Introduction

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电信企业产品定价的理念、策略和方法

面对激烈的市场竞争，电信运营商采用科学的电信产品定价理念、定价策略和定价方法势在必行。要树立以客户为中心、主动应对竞争的战略定价理念，在制定和实施价格策略时应考虑定价目标和各种影响因素，并进行价格策略的选择。在制定价格时可以综合运用以企业为中心和以客户为中心的两类定价方法．认真研究竞争对手的价格水平，并站在客户的角度判断定价方案的可行性。     

Feminist Philosophy and Information Systems

This paper offers a new approach to the philosophical foundations of information systems (IS) through feminist philosophy and, in particular, feminist epistemology. This can be used to expose the universalizing tendency of many information systems and to show the importance of using real-life complex examples rather than the simplified examples often favored by philosophers. Within traditional epistemology and its relation to IS, subjectivity, the propositional/skills distinction and epistemic hierarchies are subject to arguments from feminist epistemology. With respect to the emerging critical school of IS, feminist epistemology, and within that, feminist standpoint theory, are used to examine the complexities of the positivist/anti-positivist position and the related concept of emancipation. In addition, it is argued that the liberal version of emancipation encapsulated in such systems may have an effect opposite to that of emancipation These issues are illustrated in an existing expert systems project.     

Dennis Ross,Andrew Brook,and David Thompson,eds., Dennett's Philosophy: A Comprehensive Assessment

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