AISB/IACAP 2012 - Symposium on Natural computing/unconventional computing and its philosophical significance

Even though Turing is best known for Turing machine and Turing test, his contribution is significantly wider.
He was among the first to pursue what Denning (2007) calls “computing as natural science”, and thus Hodges (1997) describes Turing as natural philosopher:
“He thought and lived a generation ahead of his time, and yet the features of his thought that burst the boundaries of the 1940s are better described by the antique words: natural philosophy.”
The symposium addresses, but is not limited to, the following topics, grouped in two tracks:
I) NATURAL COMPUTING/UNCONVENTIONAL COMPUTING
This track will address the emerging paradigm of natural computing, and its philosophical consequences with different aspects including (but not limited to):
- Theoretical and philosophical view of natural computing/unconventional computing with its philosophical significance (such as understanding of computational processes in nature and in human mind).
- Differences between conventional and unconventional computing.
- Digital vs analog & discrete vs continuous computing
- Recent advances in natural computation (as computation found in nature, including organic computing; computation performed by natural materials and computation inspired by nature)
- Computation and its interpretation in a broader context of possible frameworks for modeling and implementing computation.
It is important to bring philosophical reflection into the discussion of all the above topics.
II) REPRESENTATION AND COMPUTATIONALISM
This track highlights the relevance of the relationship between human representation and machine representation to bring out the main issues concerning the contrast between symbolic representation/processing on the one hand and nature-inspired, non-symbolic forms of computation on the other--with a special focus on connectionism. We also welcome work on hybrids of symbolic and non-symbolic representations. Particular movements that papers may wish to address are:
-'Embedded, Embodied, Enactive' approach to cognitive science (from Varela et al)
-'Dynamic Systems' approach (from, say, Port and Van Gelder);
- Other representational possibilities that are clearly available: no representations or minimal representations;
- Process/procedural representations (e.g. from Kevin O'Regan).