On malfunctioning software.

Artefacts do not always do what they are supposed to, due to a variety of reasons, including manufacturing problems, poor maintenance, and normal wear-and-tear. Since software is an artefact, it should be subject to malfunctioning in the same sense in which other artefacts can malfunction. Yet, whet...

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Publicado en:Synthese Vol. 192; no. 4; pp. 1199 - 1221
Autores principales: Floridi, Luciano, Fresco, Nir, Primiero, Giuseppe
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Apr2015
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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          Floridi, Luciano
          Fresco, Nir
          Primiero, Giuseppe
        affil:
          Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 1 St Giles Oxford OX1 3JS UK
          Sidney M. Edelstein Centre, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem Israel
          Department of Computer Science, Middlesex University, London UK
      su:
        Computer software
        Manufacturing processes
        Manufacturing defects
        Design defects
        Notions (Philosophy)
      sug:
        subj:
          Computer software
          Manufacturing processes
          Manufacturing defects
          Design defects
          Notions (Philosophy)
      keyword:
        Artefact
        Design
        Dysfunction
        Function
        Misfunction
        Software
      ab: Artefacts do not always do what they are supposed to, due to a variety of reasons, including manufacturing problems, poor maintenance, and normal wear-and-tear. Since software is an artefact, it should be subject to malfunctioning in the same sense in which other artefacts can malfunction. Yet, whether software is on a par with other artefacts when it comes to malfunctioning crucially depends on the abstraction used in the analysis. We distinguish between 'negative' and 'positive' notions of malfunction. A negative malfunction, or dysfunction, occurs when an artefact token either does not (sometimes) or cannot (ever) do what it is supposed to. A positive malfunction, or misfunction, occurs when an artefact token may do what is supposed to but, at least occasionally, it also yields some unintended and undesirable effects. We argue that software, understood as type, may misfunction in some limited sense, but cannot dysfunction. Accordingly, one should distinguish software from other technical artefacts, in view of their design that makes dysfunction impossible for the former, while possible for the latter.
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