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SOFTWARE IS AN ABSTRACT ARTIFACT

SOFTWARE IS AN ABSTRACT ARTIFACT objects to cover all non-spatial entities which may or may not have some temporal properties. Platonic entities, in this view, fall under this ontological category as they lack spatio-temporal properties. The paper has three parts. In (I) I will very briefly argue that most of the proposals offered in the philosophy of computer science fail to capture the nature of software as an artifact. It is important to distinguish, or so I will argue, different concepts that are closely related to software such as algorithm, text, copy and execution of software, since (a) people have tried to identify software with one or the other and (b) the differences between them and software and the differences among them may help us to understand the nature of software. I argue that all of them are distinct objects and none of them can be identified with software. In (II) I will draw attention to certain similarities between software and musical works. Granting the similarities, I shall argue that the discussions regarding the nature of the musical work can and do help us to understand what software is. I will briefly discuss one of the most plausible views about musical works and http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Grazer Philosophische Studien Brill

SOFTWARE IS AN ABSTRACT ARTIFACT

IRMAK, Nurbay
Grazer Philosophische Studien , Volume 86 (1): 55 – Jan 1, 2012
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0165-9227
eISSN
1875-6735
DOI
10.1163/9789401209182_005
Publisher site
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Abstract

objects to cover all non-spatial entities which may or may not have some temporal properties. Platonic entities, in this view, fall under this ontological category as they lack spatio-temporal properties. The paper has three parts. In (I) I will very briefly argue that most of the proposals offered in the philosophy of computer science fail to capture the nature of software as an artifact. It is important to distinguish, or so I will argue, different concepts that are closely related to software such as algorithm, text, copy and execution of software, since (a) people have tried to identify software with one or the other and (b) the differences between them and software and the differences among them may help us to understand the nature of software. I argue that all of them are distinct objects and none of them can be identified with software. In (II) I will draw attention to certain similarities between software and musical works. Granting the similarities, I shall argue that the discussions regarding the nature of the musical work can and do help us to understand what software is. I will briefly discuss one of the most plausible views about musical works and

Journal

Grazer Philosophische Studien – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 2012

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