"This is a delightful introduction to the philosophical research tool
hiding underneath your word processor."
-- Brian Skyrms, Distinguished Professor of
Philosophy, University of California, Irvine
Philosophical modeling is as old as philosophy itself; examples range
from Plato's Cave and the Divided Line to Rawls's original position.
What is new are the astounding computational resources now available
for philosophical modeling. Although the computer cannot offer a
substitute for philosophical research, it can offer an important new
environment for philosophical research.
The authors present a series of exploratory examples of computer
modeling, using a range of computational techniques to illuminate a
variety of questions in philosophy and philosophical logic. Topics
include self-reference and paradox in fuzzy logics, varieties of
epistemic chaos, fractal images of formal systems, and cellular
automata models in game theory. Examples in the last category include
models for the evolution of generosity, possible causes and cures for
discrimination, and the formal undecidability of patterns of social
and biological interaction.
The cross-platform CD-ROM provided with the book contains a variety of
working examples, in color and often operating dynamically, embedded
in a text that parallels that of the book. Source code of all major
programs is included to facilitate further research.
Contents with sample animations
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