Abstract

Under the impact of information technology and the information sciences, major changes are occurring in both science and philosophy that constitute an informational turn. The recently developed Philosophy of Information has integrated the unique dualistic ontological properties of information, and scientific rationality can now be seen to include an interactive relationship between science and philosophy. Information, in particular Information Science is thus part of the structure, and not just of the content, of philosophy. In this mode of knowledge development, science transforms philosophy and philosophy can critique both science and itself. I see a process of convergence taking place that is leading to a Unified Science-Philosophy of Information, a system of disciplines of which the Philosophy of Information is a part, and Information Science achieves an additional dimension based on this fundamental philosophical stance. I argue further that a proper new Philosophy of Science would be an informational metaphilosophy in that a Unified Science-Philosophy of Information includes both a new content of Science and new dynamics of the relations between a science and its philosophy.

Highlights

  • The rapid expansion of the information sciences after emerging from the domain of communication has raised many philosophical questions about the nature of information and its mode of existence

  • The major problem addressed is to properly characterize the changes that are taking place in knowledge as a whole. These movements, I suggest, can be described as a convergence leading to a Unified Science-Philosophy of Information, a system of disciplines of which the Philosophy of Information is a part, and Information Science achieves an additional dimension based on this fundamental philosophical stance

  • Information Science requires a transformation of the scientific paradigm, which will result in a brand-new scientific system which uses information theory as the predominant approach to cognition, forcing general information theory to be seen as interacting with traditional scientific systems

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Summary

Introduction

The rapid expansion of the information sciences after emerging from the domain of communication has raised many philosophical questions about the nature of information and its mode of existence. The approach I have taken is to start from the assumptions of philosophy as they were understood in the last quarter of the 20th Century and see what the implications are of the properties of information for a proper discussion of information science, philosophy and their relation. The major problem addressed is to properly characterize the changes that are taking place in knowledge as a whole. These movements, I suggest, can be described as a convergence leading to a Unified Science-Philosophy of Information, a system of disciplines of which the Philosophy of Information is a part, and Information Science achieves an additional dimension based on this fundamental philosophical stance. To anchor my theory in philosophy, I will start with one of the basic topics in philosophy, the question of existence

The Question of Existence
The Question of “Spirit”
A Philosophical Definition of Information
Outline of Paper
The Informational Turn of Contemporary Science and Philosophy
Information Science
Philosophy of Information as a Metaphilosophy
Knowledge and Universal Reason
Information and Cognition
The Content of Scientific Experiment
The Level of Universal Rationality
The Transition between Levels of Universal Rationality
The Problem of the Nature of Information
Meaning from an Informational Standpoint
A Unified Science of Information “Upright between Heaven and Earth”
Characteristics
The Partition of Existence
A Basic Concept
Informational Epistemology
The Concept of “Informational Intermediaries”: Respective Discoveries
Conclusions
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