This paper, along with the following paper by John McCarthy, introduces some of the topics to be discussed at the IJCAI95 event ‘A philosophical encounter: An interactive presentation of some of the key philosophical problems in AI and AI problems in philosophy.’ Philosophy needs AI in order to make progress with many difficult questions about the nature of mind, and AI needs philosophy in orde...

Dobzhansky’s (1964) sweeping generalization, “nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution,” provocatively captures the centrality of evolutionary theory in biological science (see also Dobzhansky 1973). But his rally call is also grievously partial. Ecology casts the same indispensable light in biology, particularly on evolution. Although the term ‘ecology’ was not coined un...

Over the years security experts in the field of Information Technology have had a tough time in making passwords secure. This paper studies and takes a careful look at this issue from the angle of philosophy and cognitive science. We have studied the process of passwords to rank its strengths and weaknesses in order to establish a quality metric for passwords. Finally we related the process to ...

TH E academy of fciences at Dijon hav? propofed the following fubjeft for a prizp of three hundred livres value : "To determine " with greater precifion than hath been hitherto done, the charafteriftic fymptoms of intermit" .tent fevers, and to point out in the cleareft " manner the circumftances in which febrifuge " remedies may be employed with advantage, kt and without danger to the Tick." T...

Experimental philosophers have empirically challenged the connection between intuition and philosophical expertise. This paper reviews these challenges alongside other research findings in cognitive science on expert performance and argues for three claims. First, evidence taken to challenge philosophical expertise may also be explained by the wellresearched failures and limitations of genuine ...