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Barnett, Peter H.
About the author: Peter H. Barnett holds a Ph.D in Philosophy (Columbia) and an M.A. in Computer Science (Brooklyn). He taught Philosophy at John Jay College, C.U.N.Y. from 1971 to 1992. Since then he has managed distributed computer systems in the public and private sectors. Dr. Barnett’s previous books and monographs include Two Philosophical Experiments (1977), Tools of Thought: the Practical Foundations of Formal Reasoning (1980), Time Trap (1980), Can You Tell Me How What You Are Doing Now Is To Do Something Philosophical (1980), Reciprocal Encoding-Decoding Construction (1983), and Questioning Time: A Philosophical Experiment (1996, Mellen Press).
2001 0-7734-7376-9Synchronicity characterizes many events in human life, where an outcome is predicated upon independent actions taken at the same time. People attach a special significance to the rendezvous of trapeze artists, to a spontaneous first kiss, and to uttering the same words at the same time. However, in Computer Science, especially the study of distributed systems, it is almost universally denied that there is a special class of concurrent events whereby the same result could not be obtained had the component actions occurred one after the other. Artificial Time is addressed to philosophers interested in distributed computing, and to computer scientists interested in philosophy. Illustrated with schematic diagrams of experimental designs, graphs, and annotated samples of the results, it contains an extensive bibliography of related research in distributed computing and the logic of computation.
1996 0-7734-8775-1
Peter Barnett has spent much of his philosophical career exploring alternatives to discursive argument as a means of philosophical communication. He has used diagrams, grids, sculpture, games, and practical jokes, in addition to the technique of sustained questioning.