BSc Computing Science and Philosophy
About this course
Computing science and philosophy is a pairing with deep intellectual coherence. Philosophy has long been concerned with questions about the nature of mind, knowledge, language and logic, all of which are also fundamental concerns of computer science. Questions about artificial intelligence, what it means for a machine to think, whether computational processes can be conscious and what the ethical implications of intelligent systems are, sit directly at the boundary between the two disciplines. Studying them together at the University of Stirling gives you a rare combination of technical capability and conceptual depth. You will develop your programming, algorithms, software engineering and systems knowledge alongside philosophical inquiry into logic, epistemology, the philosophy of mind and the ethics of technology. The computing science strand gives you the practical and technical skills to design and implement real software systems; the philosophy strand develops your capacity for precise conceptual analysis and rigorous argument. These are complementary rather than competing capabilities, and the best computer scientists have always drawn on both kinds of thinking. A year abroad is built into the four-year programme, broadening your perspective on how computing and philosophical traditions vary across different intellectual cultures. Graduates of this combination are well placed for careers that require both technical capability and the ability to think carefully about the implications and limitations of technology. Software development, data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning, UX research, technology ethics and policy, and roles in organisations working on the social and ethical dimensions of digital technology are among the most common destinations. The philosophical grounding makes graduates particularly effective in roles where technology meets law, policy, regulation or human-centred design. Many go on to postgraduate study in computer science, artificial intelligence, philosophy of mind or technology ethics.
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