Major Lab Projects

The Noesis Project is the central project of the lab. It is dedicated to mapping the profession of philosophy as a whole insofar as it appears online. Details are available in the paper "Noesis and the Encyclopedic Internet Vision" and in some of the publications listed below. The other projects of the lab are often, though sometimes indirectly, dedicated to discovering the artificial intelligence techniques and algorithms needed to complete Noesis and for humanistic application more broadly. University of Evansville Students who have worked on this project over the years include: Mason Blankenship, Josh Burger, Derek Burrows, Jeff Carlyle, Scott Glenn, Chirstopher Harrison, Brian Howenstein, Trent Kriete, Kyle Michel, Brian Moffat, Michelle Morse, Ted Morse, Siddartha Naidu, Jason Schindler, Justin Simerly, Hiten Sonpal, Antonio Touriño, Dan Wolf, Josh Woody and Guy Wyant.

Understanding Dynamic Associative Networks is an ongoing set of experiments to isolate the elements of "initial intelligence," basic low level skills that can be combined to produce more complex artificial intelligence. Dynamic Associative Networks (DANs) were developed in the lab and present an alternative to Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) insofar as they are a hybrid between networks used for text and social analysis and pattern matching cognitive networks. Unlike ANNs, they take their shape based directly on the data, that is, nodes and connections are added as needed and, consequently, DANs do not require a learning algorithm. To date, the lab has developed DANs for 1) object and property identification, 2) comparison of similarities and differences, 3) shape recognition, 4) association across simulated sense modalities, 5) primary sequential memory, 6) network branching from one subnet to another, 7) eight-bit register control, and 8) rudimentary natural language processing based on an associative stimulus/response conception of language.

Teleodynamic Game Play Based on Example is a project dedicated to creating artificial intelligence mechanisms that can learn to play board games (varities of solitaire, Checkers, Pente, Go, etc.) using a three-level hybrid approach involving agent-based modeling, dynamic associative networks and strong artificial intelligence techniques. These hybrid mechanisms are "teleodynamic" insofar as they can pursue a goal state without having to be explicitly told what that goal state is. Rather, they abstract the goal state from example and then formalize generalities to determine best strategy.

Faculty/Student Projects

The following individual projects are directed toward those listed above or fit with the overall objectives of the lab as articulated in our mission statement.

• Inforgs and the Infosphere: Themes from Luciano Floridi's Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence, Special Issue of the Journal of Theoretical and Experimental Artificial Intelligence, edited by Anthony Beavers, forthcoming 2013.
• Philosophy in the Age of Information: A Symposium on Luciano Floridi's The Philosophy of Information (Oxford, 2011), Special Issue of Minds and Machines, edited by Anthony Beavers, forthcoming 2012 & 2013.
• On Playing (and Winning) Haugeland's Game in an Agent-Based, Dynamic Network Environment (working title), Class Project for COGS 498H, Complexity and Cognition, Spring 2012.
• Transforming Standard Databases into Teleodynamic and Predictivie Mechanisms, Christopher Harrison and Anthony Beavers, Co-PIs, Summer 2011. Funded by the UExplore Undergraduate Research Program, $10,585.
• Dynamic Associative Network Automatic Document Classification, Derek Burrows, 2010-2011. Computer Science Senior Project for Noesis and the Indiana Philosophy Ontology Project. Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Winner of the 2011 University of Evansville Senior Project in Computer Science Award.
• Applied Associative Networks, Christopher Harrison, Independent Study in Math (Math 490) with Dr. Talitha Washington, Spring 2011.
• Mechanists of the Revolution: The Case of Edison and Bell, Anthony Beavers and Brent Sigler, Spring 2010.
• Dynamic Jets and Sharks, Anthony Beavers and Michael Zlatkovsky, Spring/Summer 2010.
• Dynamic Associative Networks and Automatic Document Classification, Guy Wyant, 2009-2010. Computer Science Senior Project for Noesis and the Indiana Philosophy Ontology Project. Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Winner of the 2010 University of Evansville Senior Project in Computer Science Award.
• Modeling and Visualizing Dynamic Associative Networks: Towards Developing a More Robust and Biologically-Plausible Cognitive Model, Michael Zlatkovsky. Computer Science/Cognitive Science Senior Project. Winner of the 2009 University of Evansville Senior Project in Computer Science Award. See companion website for details.

Presentations

• Beavers, A. (2013). Invited Speaker, Title to Be Determined. Panel Session on the Philosophy of Information, Its Challenges and Opportunities. The XXIII World Congress of Philosophy: Philosophy as Inquiry and Way of Life, Athens, Greece, August 4th-10th.
• Beavers, A. (2012). "On the Philosophical Assumptions Affecting the Reduction of Semantics to Syntax," Workshop on The Incomputable, part ot the Programme on Semantics and Syntax: A Legacy of Alan Turing, The Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge, England, June 12th-15th, 2012.
• Beavers, A. (2012). "The Philosophy of Information and the Structure of Philosophical Revolutions," Seminar on the Philosophy of the Web, The Sorbonne, May 19th, and the Centre Pompidou, May 20th, Paris, 2012.
• Beavers, A. (2012). "Transcendental Philosophy in the Age of Information: Floridi's Neo-Kantian Epistemology," The 4th International Workshop on the Philosophy of Information, The University of Hertfordshire, England, May 10th-11th.
• Beavers, A. (2012). "Complexity and Cognition: Circuits not Software," Crick Lecture in the Cognitive and Neural Sciences, The University of Evansville, April 11th.
• Beavers, A. (2012). "Invited Speaker, (How) Can Semantic Information Be Reduced to Information Theory? Implications for an Information-Theoretic Philosophy of Mind," Issues in Cognitive Science Lecture Series, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, April 4th. (Based on a paper co-written with C. Harrison.)
• Beavers, A. (2011). "Could and Should the Ought Disappear from Ethics," International Symposium on Digital Ethics, Center for Digital Ethics and Policy, School of Communication, Loyola University Chicago, October 28th.
• Beavers, A., and Harrison, C. (2011). "Hybrid Networks: Transforming Networks for Social and Textual Analysis into Teleodynamic and Predictive Mechanisms," Institute for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities, Networks and Network Analysis for the Humanities, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics, University of California, Los Angeles, October 20th-22nd.
• Beavers, A. (2011). Panelist, "Info-Metrics: Information Processing across the Sciences," Info-Metrics Institute Workshop on the Philosophy of Information, American University, Washington, D.C., October 3rd.
• Beavers, A. (2011). "Deriving Semantic Meaning by Measuring the Quanity of Information Flow," Fall Faculty Conference, The University of Evansville, Evansville, Indiana, August 17th.
• Beavers, A. (2011). "Is Ethics Computable, Or What Other than Can Does Ought Imply?" Presidential Keynote Address, International Association for Computing and Philosophy, Aarhus University, Denmark, July 4th-6th.
• Beavers, A. (2011). "Inside the Psychology of the Agent: Information, Association, Attraction and Repulsion," Institute for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities, Networks and Network Analysis for the Humanities, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, July 10th, 2011.
• Beavers, A. (2011). "Facebook Revisited: How the Business of Social Networking May Redefine Our Sense of Right and Wrong," Invited Lecture, Technology and Ethics Lecture Series, Ethics + Emerging Technologies Group, California Polytechnic State University, May 13th.
• Burrows, D. (2011). "Automatic Document Classification via Dynamic Associative Networks," Undergraduate Conference in Math, Engineering and Science, University of Evansville, March 26th. Accepted but not presented.
• Beavers, A. (2010). "Typicality Effects and Resilience in Evolving Dynamic Networks," Complex Adaptive Systems, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), Fall Symposium Series, Arlingington, Virginia, November 11th-13th.
• Beavers, A. (2010). "Can Virtue Be Safe in an Online World?: The Problems and Perils of Ungoverned Social Networking," Invited Lecture, Province Psi Leadership School and Convention, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity, November 6th-7th.
• Beavers, A. (2010). "When Your Profile Knows More about You than You Do: The Power of Cognitive Computing, or Why I Left Facebook," Crick Lecture in the Cognitive and Neural Sciences, University of Evansville, September 27th.
• Beavers, A. and Sigler, B. (2010). "Mechanists of the Revolution: The Case of Edison and Bell," International Association for Computing and Philosophy, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany, October 4th-6th.
• Beavers, A. (2010). "More Fun with Jets and Sharks: Typicality Effects and the Search for the Perfect Attractors," International Association for Computing and Philosophy, Carnegie Mellon University, July 24th-26th.
• Beavers, A. (2010). "The Genesis of Moral Machines: On Making Robots in the Garden of Eden," Guest Lecturer, Concepts of Good and Evil in Literature (Julia Galbus, Instructor), University of Southern Indiana, March 25th.
• Beavers, A. (2010). "Moral Robots and Kantian Ethics," Guest Lecturer, Information Ethics and Technology-based Ecosystems (David Saab, Instructor), Pennsylvania State University, March 18th.
• Zlatkovsky, M. (2009). "Modeling and Visualizing Dynamic Associative Networks: Towards Developing a More Robust and Biologically-Plausible Cognitive Model," Undergraduate Conference in Math, Engineering and Science, University of Evansville, April 4th.
• Beavers, A. (2009). "Mechanical vs. Symbolic Computation: Two Contrasting Strategies for Information Processing," Invited Speaker, Society for Machines and Mentality, American Philosophical Association, New York City, December 28th.
• Beavers, A. (2009). "The Ethics of Facebook," Invited Speaker, Technology and Ethics Lecture Series, Ethics + Emerging Technologies Group, California Polytechnic State University, May 4th.
• Beavers, A. (2009). "Between Angels and Animals: The Question of Robot Ethics, or Is Kantian Moral Agency Desirable?" Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, Eighteenth Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, March 5th-8th.
• Beavers, A. (2008). "Domain-Specific Search and the Encyclopedic Internet Vision," Network and Complex Systems Group, Indiana University, February.
• Beavers, A. (2008). "Is Noesis Noetic and Why Does this Matter?" CNS Research Group, University of Evansville, February.
• Beavers, A. (2000). "The Noesis Model of Academic Publishing," Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Washington, D.C., August.
• Beavers, A. (2000). "Noesis: From Search Engine/Index to Information Network," The 15th Annual Computing and Philosophy Conference, Carnegie Mellon University, August.
• Beavers, A. (2000). "Noesis and the Electronic Dissemination of Professional Philosophy: Problems and Prospects," Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Albuquerque, New Mexico, April.
• Beavers, A. (1999). Panel Discussion, "Philosophy on the Internet: Questions of Standards," Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Boston, December.
• Beavers, A. (1999). "Noesis: Philosophical Research On-Line," The 14th Annual Computing and Philosophy Conference, Carnegie Mellon University, August.
• Beavers, A. (1999). "The Noesis Model: A Progressive Experiment for the Dissemination of Professional Philosophy," The 12th Triennial Conference of the International Association of University Presidents, Brussels, Belgium, July.
• Beavers, A. (1999). "Noesis: Philosophical Research On-Line," The 1999 Indiana Classics Conference, DePauw University, April.
• Beavers, A. (1998). "The Fourth Tetralogy: An Online Exploration of Plato's Middle Dialogues" and "Philosophy on the Internet," the prototype for the Noesis search engine, The 13th Annual Computing and Philosophy Conference, 20th World Congress of Philosophy, Boston, August.
• Beavers, A. (1997). "Argos and Exploring Ancient World Cultures: How a Limited Area Search Engine Can Supplement Course-based Internet Resources," Technology Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, sponsored by the Indiana Partnership for Statewide Education, Purdue University, October.

Publications

• Beavers, A. (2012). "Could and Should the Ought Disappear from Ethics?" Written for the International Symposium on Digital Ethics, Loyola University Chicago, October 28th, 2011. Publication details forthcoming.
• Beavers, A., and Harrison, C. (2012). "Information-Theoretic Teleodynamics in Natural and Artificial Systems." In A Computable Universe: Understanding Computation & Exploring Nature as Computation, H. Zenil, ed. World Scientific, forthcoming.
• Beavers, A. (2012). "In the Beginning Was the Word and Then Four Revolutions in the History of Information." In Luciano Floridi's Philosophy of Technology: Critical Reflections, H. Demir, ed. Springer, Philosophy, Technology and Engineering Book Series, forthcoming.
• Beavers, A. (2012). "Alan Turing: Mathematical Mechanist." In Alan Turing: His Work and Impact, edited by S. Barry Cooper and Jan van Leeuwen (Elsevier, 2011), forthcoming.
• Beavers, A. (2011). "Historicizing Floridi: The Question of Method, The State of the Profession, and the Timeliness of Floridi's Philosophy of Information." Etica & Politica / Ethics and Politics 13.2: 255-275.
• Beavers, A. (2011). "Recent Developments in Computing and Philosophy," Journal for the General Philosophy of Science 42.2: 385-397.
• Beavers, A. (2011). "Moral Machines and the Threat of Ethical Nihilism." In Robot Ethics: The Ethical and Social Implication of Robotics, edited by Patrick Lin, George Bekey and Keith Abney (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2011), 333-344.
• Beavers, A. (2011). Review of Information: A Very Short Introduction by Luciano Floridi, Minds and Machines 21.1, 97-101.
• Beavers, A. (2011). "Noesis and the Encyclopedic Internet Vision," Synthese 182.2: 315-333.
• Beavers, A., and Sigler, B. (2010). "Mechanists of the Revolution: The Case of Edison and Bell." In Proceedings of the VIII European Conference on Computing and Philosophy, K. Mainzer, ed., 426-430. Munich: Verlag Dr. Hut.
• Beavers, A., Ed. (2010). Robot Ethics and Human Ethics, Special Issue of Ethics and Information Technology 12.3.
• Beavers, A., and Allen, C. (2010). Representing Philosophy, Special Issue of Synthese: An International Journal for Epistemology, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, forthcoming.
• Beavers, A. (2010). "Typicality Effects and Resilience in Evolving Dynamic Networks." In FS-10-03, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence Press.
• Beavers, A. (2010). Review of Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right from Wrong by Wendall Wallach and Colin Allen, Philosophy Now 71 and Ethics and Information Technology 12.4. 357-358.
• Wandel, T., and Beavers, A. (2010). "Playing Around with Idenity." In Facebook and Philosophy, D.Wittkower, Ed., 89-96. Chicago: Open Court..
• Beavers, A. (2005). "Searching for Philosophy: A Review of Google Scholar and Google News," Teaching Philosophy 28.4, 367-371.
• Beavers, A. (2002). Review of Philosophy and Computing: An Introduction by Luciano Floridi, Ethics and Information Technology 3.4, 299-301.
• Beavers, A. (2002). "Phenomenology and Artificial Intelligence." In CyberPhilosophy: The Intersection of Philosophy and Computing, J. Moor and T. Bynum, eds., 66-77. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. Reprinted in Metaphilosophy 33.1-2, 70-82.
• Suber, P. (2002). "Noesis: Is It a Library with Built-In Searching or a Search Engine with a Built-In Library?" Campus Technology.
• Uzgalis, B. (2000). "Searching Phenomenology and Cyberspace: An Interview with Anthony Beavers," Newsletter on Philosophy and Computers, American Philosophical Association, 00.1.
• Beavers, A. (1999). "Noesis: Philosophical Research Online: An Experiment in Progress," Newsletter on Philosophy and Computers, American Philosophical Association, 98.2.
• Beavers, A. (1998). "Evaluating Search Engine Models for Scholarly Purposes: A Report from the Internet Applications Laboratory," D-Lib Magazine: The Magazine of Digital Library Research, The Corporation for National Research Initiatives, December.
• Poynder, R. (1997). "Modern Tools for Ancient Historians," Information World Review, January 1st.