Grazer Philosophische Studien 86 (1):55-72 (2012)
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Abstract |
Software is a ubiquitous artifact, yet not much has been done to understand its ontological nature. There are a few accounts offered so far about the nature of software. I argue that none of those accounts give a plausible picture of the nature of software. I draw attention to the striking similarities between software and musical works. These similarities motivate to look more closely on the discussions regarding the nature of the musical works. With the lessons drawn from the ontology of musical works I offer a novel account of the nature of software. In this account, software is an abstract artifact. I elaborate the conditions under which software comes into existence; how it persists; how and on which entities its existence depends.
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Keywords | software computer programs musical works ontology artifacts abstract objects |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Reprint years | 2012 |
DOI | 10.1163/9789401209182_005 |
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References found in this work BETA
Objects and Persons.Trenton Merricks - 2003 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 67 (3):727-744.
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Citations of this work BETA
On Malfunctioning Software.Giuseppe Primiero, Nir Fresco & Luciano Floridi - 2015 - Synthese 192 (4):1199-1220.
Reframing AI Discourse.Deborah G. Johnson & Mario Verdicchio - 2017 - Minds and Machines 27 (4):575-590.
The Vagueness Argument Against Abstract Artifacts.Daniel Z. Korman - 2014 - Philosophical Studies 167 (1):57-71.
View all 15 citations / Add more citations
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