Communication and computability: The case of Alan Mathison Turing

This essay provides a preliminary examination of the relationships which exist between the disciplines of communication and computer science. It isolates the original principles which determined the development of computer science and suggests how these early formative principles have and may continue to can affect the study of communication. Because of his seminal role in virtually all areas during the origins of computer science, the published works of British logician and mathematician Alan M. Turing (1912–1954) are employed as the foundation of computer science. Turing's conceptions of computability theory, computer architecture and software, artificial intelligence, and the origins of life are examined for their potential consequences for communication and rhetorical theory. It is argued here that both the limitations and the potentialities of the standards and interests which guided the emergence of computer science constitute an important self‐reflective framework for future developments in the discipline of communication.

Key concepts:

• Computer science
• Alan M. Turing
• discipline of communication
• analog analysis
• computability theory
• computer architecture
• computer software
• artificial intelligence
• origins of life