Software is an abstract artifact

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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Nurbay Irmak
Bogazici University

Citations of this work

An Ontology of Words.Nurbay Irmak - 2019 - Erkenntnis 84 (5):1139-1158.
Social Ontology.Brian Epstein - 2018 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
The Vagueness Argument Against Abstract Artifacts.Daniel Z. Korman - 2014 - Philosophical Studies 167 (1):57-71.
Artifact.Risto Hilpinen - 1999 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

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References found in this work

Material beings.Peter Van Inwagen - 1990 - Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Fiction and Metaphysics.Amie L. Thomasson - 1998 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Material Beings.Peter Van Inwagen - 1990 - Philosophy 67 (259):126-127.
Material Beings.Peter van Inwagen - 1993 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 53 (3):701-708.
Fiction and Metaphysics.Amie Thomasson - 1999 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 60 (2):190-192.

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