From Reflection to Interaction: An Indirect Approach to the Philosophy of Computation

In this paper, we propose a metaphysical framework inspired from computational reflection put forward by B. C. Smith. We introduce phenomenals as an ontological device and therapeutic understanding as an epistemological one. To describe and understand them, we introduce three forms for description, called Hume-Bergson Forms, in which every phenomenals are situated between pure description and pure duration. In these forms, we explicitly treat transcendent entities and, accordingly, they cannot be authorized by formal proofs and must be metaphysical up to a point. Our strategy is to prompt readers to understand descriptions of those devices on the fact that this theory is applicable to understanding the descriptions of the theory itself. Finally we remark future directions of research in this framework.