Computer science should be understood philosophically as a general theory of agency.
Insofar as moral and political theory depend on a theory of agency, they also depend on computer science.
Insofar as moral and political theory depend on a theory of agency, they also depend on computer science.
Virtually none of the philosophers who work on agency have even minimal competence in the fundamentals of computer science.
For a comparable situation, imagine theoretical physics except no one understood calculus, or even why calculus might help.
For a comparable situation, imagine theoretical physics except no one understood calculus, or even why calculus might help.
The reverse is also true, and with more dramatic practical implications: almost no computer scientist is trained for minimally competence in theories of agency as discussed in the social sciences.
In this sense, I agree with Jamie:
In this sense, I agree with Jamie:
I don't know that CS should "dominate" the conversation on the mind, but CS bears a similar relationship to mind/agency as calculus does to physics.
Misunderstandings of this relationship are at the root of almost every dispute in AI, both technical and ethical.
Misunderstandings of this relationship are at the root of almost every dispute in AI, both technical and ethical.
