Philosophy and Computer Science:

New Perspectives of Collaboration

Maria Daskalaki
Center for Cultural Informatics
Institute of Computer Science
Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas

Nuremberg
19.06.2015

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 Posing the problematic

 The rapid development of computer science brought along many problems

concerning the designing and the classification of the existing knowledge
and information.

 Realization of the importance of conceptual modeling which aims at

expressing “the meaning of terms and concepts used by domain experts to
discuss the problem and to find the correct relationships between
concepts” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_model)

 Need for declarative representations which should have “as much

generality as possible to ensure reusability but would at the same
time correspond to the things and processes they are
(representations) supposed to represent” (Barry Smith, Cristopher Welty,
Ontology: “Towards a New Synthesis”, FOIS, 2001,IV).

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 Computer sciences and philosophy

 Similar questions concerning the possibility of the correspondence

between reality and systems of representation have arisen in Philosophy.

 My aim here is to try to exploit the advantages of the related philosophical

research and to point out some “confusions” and ambiguities that emerge
in the context of information sciences but could be clarified with the aid of
philosophy.

The 1980’s: J. McCarthy, J. Sowa

The 1990’s: N. Guarino, B. Smith, T. Gruber
Now: disengagement of the information sciences from philosophy

 However: the question is if the collaboration with philosophy could bring

results related to the epistemological questions that emerge in the context
of information sciences.

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 Analyzing the problem

 “different databases may use identical labels but with different meanings or
“the same meaning may be expressed via different names” (B. Smith,
“Ontology”, in: Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Computing and Information, Oxford:
Blackwell, 2003, 159-166, p.159).

If this is true, is the interoperability and compatibility between different data

base systems possible?
If the systems are interoperable and compatible they are also sustainable and
expandable.

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 Interoperability and communication

HOWEVER:
 The interoperability issue could be formulated in the philosophical
framework in terms of communication and its preconditions!

 If the analogy between the need of interoperability and the philosophical

significance of communication is correct then we have to analyze the
parameters that are needed in the process of communication, in order to
draw conclusions that will be useful for the information sciences.

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 Intersubjectivity and the construction of the
meaning

 Intersubjectivity as a crucial precondition of communication!

Intersubjectivity is closely related to the sphere of the construction of
the meaning and with the preconditions that this must fulfill in order
to be valid.

 The meaning consists of propositions which refer to things in our

world and which are regarded by the majority of the members of
that world as true.

 In order to construct communicable, comprehensive, acceptable

and valid assertions about the world, the meaning should
transcend the limits of individuals and refer to the reality, which the
subjects share.

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 “Fuzzy” notions

 Need for clarification of some notions related to the concept of

communication which are used in the framework of computer sciences in a
fuzzy, loose way:

 Valid assertions do not imply an “objective truth” which refers to an

objective world.
 We should not confuse the level related to the way we express and
formulate our knowledge (philosophy of language) with that related to our
cognitive powers (theory of knowledge) or to the nature of the objects of
our perception (ontology).
 The topic of interoperability is related to the meta-level of analysis
of the ways, in which subjects and their objects are mediated. At
this level collaboration with philosophy could be very fruitful.

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 Philosophical views

 However, in the domain of philosophy of language the question

about the validity of our assertions remains active.

philosophical perspectives:
a) The solipsistic perspective which holds that knowledge of
anything outside one’s own mind is unsure.
b) The relativistic perspective according to which our views and
assertions have “only relative, subjective value according to
differences in perception and consideration”
c) The constructivist perspective according to which humans can not
come to know the truth about the natural world without being
mediated by knowledge of the world, which is always a human
and social construction. Yet there is always the risk to conclude
that the assertions about the reality is the result of a more or less
arbitrary agreement.

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 Philosophical views

d) The theory of reference according to which the meanings refer to

the objects of our reality as an external factor which can provide
us a criterion for the validity of our assertions. The fact that words
refer to things in the external world, does not necessarily mean
that the words have only a descriptive function (theory of direct
reference-Russell). They can also be mediated from the nets of
the meanings that are valid within a certain group of people within
a certain time span (theory of mediated reference Frege-
Strawson, Saerle).

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 Objective ground of our systems

 The demand for interoperability, which arises in the framework of

computer sciences, prompts us to search for criteria which can be
applied in different disciplines of knowledge and can provide the
tools for the constant expansion and compatibility between different
data base systems!

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 Quality of our concepts

 the notions we use should be the result of the reflection on the “empirical
material“.
 They cannot be particulars! That would lead to solipsism!

 Conclusion: In order to achieve interoperability, expansion compatibility

and sustainability we first have to investigate the possibility of finding an
objective ground to detect universal concepts which emerge from the
experience but do not assimilate with it. In this task the assistance that
philosophy can provide may prove decisive.

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