Representationalism in Knowledge Organization and Information Retrieval: Cheer or Criticism?

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the representational approach to language using the concept of ‘Representationalism’ in philosophy and a new framework referred to in this paper as Information Retrieval Action (IRA). IRA is a theoretical construct based on Information Retrieval (IR) theory. Therefore, the methodology employed in this study is philosophical and speculative. It examines and discusses representationalism in both the mental (cognitive) and linguistic dimensions, incorporating concepts from the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of language as methodological approaches. ‘Concept’ and ‘Meaning’ emerge as two critical semantic elements when considering language as a semiotic phenomenon. Representationalism in IRA is rooted in logical positivism, which serves as the foundation for interpreting meaning and concept based on mental representation. In response, the paper proposes an alternative non-representational approach to the semantic elements of language (meaning and concept) based on the philosophy of pragmatism within the IRA framework. While the emergence of new technologies like ontologies implicitly criticizes representationalism in IRA, previous research has not explicitly addressed the theoretical and philosophical criticism of representationalism within the IRA framework.