Introduction: Information Technology and Computers as Themes in the Philosophy of Technology

Abstract

Philosophical interest in computers and information technology has closely paralleled scientific and technological developments in these fields. Indeed, philosophical reflection on computers and information technology has from its origins constituted one of the primary aspects of the philosophy of technology, particularly in the Anglo-American philosophical community. What follows is an attempt to substantiate these two claims by a review of some historical moments in the computer-philosophy encounter and by an analytic survey of the issues thus raised. A conclusion places the present proceedings in this historico-analytic framework.