Bøker av William A Bauer

We inhabit a world not only full of natural dispositions independent of human design, but also artificial dispositions created by our technological prowess. How do these dispositions, found in automation, computation, and artificial intelligence applications, differ metaphysically from their natural counterparts? This collection investigates artificial dispositions: what they are, the roles they play in artificial systems, and how they impact our understanding of the nature of reality, the structure of minds, and the ethics of emerging technologies. It is divided into four parts covering the following interconnected themes: (i) Artificial and Natural Dispositions, (ii) Artificial Systems and Their Dispositions, (iii) Agency, Mind, and Artificial Dispositions, and (iv) Artificial Moral Dispositions. This is a groundbreaking and thought-provoking resource for any student or scholar of philosophy of science, contemporary metaphysics, applied ethics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of technology.

Bright with Invisible History gathers a selection of poetry, short stories, journal entries, book reviews, and other prose by a remarkable man. William Bauer's writings are full of affection for the puzzling and often humorous behaviour of human beings. He catches both the strangeness and the pathos of our lives. Memorable voices and characters, along with lyrical reflections and autobiographical musings, flow from Bauer's imagination. His language ranges from the playfulness and rich diction of 18th-century British prose-writers (his teaching specialty) to the vernacular spark of 20th-century Maritime and New England speech. He had a special skill for using humour to explore life's questions and quandaries. Suspicious of high seriousness, Bauer wrote some of the zestiest poetry and fiction of his time. With the publication of Bright with Invisible History we now have the full range of William Bauer's storytelling, inventiveness, and original mind brought together in the pages of one book.