The Internet and Philosophy of Science

From the perspective of the philosophy of science, this book analyzes the Internet conceived in a broad sense. It includes three layers that require philosophical attention: (1) the technological infrastructure, (2) the Web, and (3) cloud computing, along with apps and mobile Internet. The study focuses on the network of networks from the viewpoint of complexity, both structural and dynamic. In addition to the scientific side, this volume considers the technological facet and the social dimension of the Internet as a novel design.

There is a clear contribution of the Internet to science: first, the very development of the network of networks requires the creation of new science; second, the Internet empowers scientific disciplines, such as communication sciences; and third, the Internet has fostered a whole new emergent field of data and information. After the opening chapter, which offers a series of keys to the book, there are nine chapters, grouped into four parts: (I) Configuration of the Internet and Its Future, (II) Structural and Dynamic Complexity in the Design of the Internet, (III) Internal and External Contributions of the Internet, and (IV) The Internet and the Sciences.

Following this framework, The Internet and Philosophy of Science will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in philosophy of science, philosophy of technology as well as science and technology studies.

Wenceslao J. Gonzalez is Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science (University of A Coruña). He is a Full Member of the Académie International de Philosophie des Sciences/International Academy for Philosophy of Sciences. He was a Team Leader of the European Science Foundation program entitled 'The Philosophy of Science in a European Perspective' (2008–2013). He has been Visiting Fellow at the Center for Philosophy of Science (University of Pittsburgh) and a visiting researcher at the London School of Economics.

Gonzalez has been a member of the National Committee for Evaluation of the Scientific Activity (CNEAI) of Spain. He is the director of the Center for Research in Philosophy of Science and Technology (CIFCYT) at the University of A Coruña, where he organizes an annual conference on Contemporary Philosophy and Methodology of Science. His publications include monographs such as Philosophico-Methodological Analysis of Prediction and its Role in Economics (2015) and the edition of 44 volumes on philosophy of science and technology, such as New Approaches to Scientific Realism (2020). He is the author of numerous papers on the Internet from a philosophical perspective, such as 'The Internet at the Service of Society: Business Ethics, Rationality, and Responsibility' (2020).