PHILOSOPHY AND LOGIC. Part II

Logic and Logical Philosophy, 2013

To better understand what information is and to explain information-related issues has become an essential philosophical task. General concepts from science, ethics and sociology are insufficient. As noted by Floridi, a new philosophy, a Philosophy of Information (PI), is needed. In the 80's, Wu Kun proposed a "The Basic Theory of the Philosophy of Information", which became available in English only in 2010. Wu and Joseph Brenner then found that the latter's non-standard "Logic in Reality" provided critical logical support for Wu's theory. In Part I of our paper, we outline the two basic theories as a metaphilosophy and metalogic for information. We offer our two theories as a further contribution to an informational paradigm. In Part II [WuB14], we develop the relation between information and social value as a basis for the ethical development of the emerging Information Society.

2016

Abstract: The recent history of information theory and science shows a trend in emphasis from quantitative measures to qualitative characterizations. In parallel, aspects of information are being developed, for example by Pedro Marijuan, Wolf-gang Hofkirchner and others that are extending the notion of qualitative, non-computational information in the biological and cognitive domain to include meaning and function. However, there is as yet no consensus on whether a single acceptable definition or theory of the concept of information is possible, leading to many attempts to view it as a complex, a notion with varied meanings or a group of different entities. In my opinion, the difficulties in developing a Unified Theory of Information (UTI) that would include its qualitative and quantita-tive aspects and their relation to meaning are a consequence of implicit or explicit reliance on the principles of standard, truth-functional bivalent or multivalent logics. In reality, information p...

There are many good reasons to ask basic questions on the construction of reality. These questions not only concern the structure of the world we live in and how we perceive it, but also the mysteries of how our Universe was born and how it will evolve in the far future. This article aims to highlight the prominent role of information in the manifestations of matter and discusses current materialistic paradigms, versus the concept that not matter but information is primary in the evolution of our Universe. Reconciliation of these opposing views is sought in hypothesizing that matter in its various modalities intrinsically contains proto-mental (informational) aspects and/or that matter and mind are complementary aspects of a total reality. Information is treated as a multi-layered phenomenon and is differentiated in intrinsic (elementary), observed (scientific), cultural (in the sense of meaning) and nouminous (mostly non-conscious) information. Reality is pictured as a four-dimensional domain (block universe), in which all time (past, present and future) is laid-out, along with space, housing a flow of information. It is postulated that basic information for creation of the Universe was provided, either through backward causation from the far future, or has originated from a preceding version of our Universe. Individual consciousness is considered as an expression of an underlying non-local quantum field, which exhibits holographic properties. It is postulated that the human brain is interfacing this universal information field, to our individual consciousness. This universal information domain is physically identified as the zero-point-energy field, also related to a time-reversed flow of

The recent history of information theory and science shows a trend in emphasis from quantitative measures to qualitative characterizations. In parallel, aspects of information are being developed, for example by Pedro Marijuan, Wolf-gang Hofkirchner and others that are extending the notion of qualitative, non-computational information in the biological and cognitive domain to include meaning and function. However, there is as yet no consensus on whether a single acceptable definition or theory of the concept of information is possible, leading to many attempts to view it as a complex, a notion with varied meanings or a group of different entities. In my opinion, the difficulties in developing a Unified Theory of Information (UTI) that would include its qualitative and quantita-tive aspects and their relation to meaning are a consequence of implicit or explicit reliance on the principles of standard, truth-functional bivalent or multivalent logics. In reality, information processes, ...

2014

A consensus is emerging that the multiple forms, functions and properties of information cannot be captured by a simple categorization into classical and quantum information. Similarly, it is unlikely that the applicable physics of information is a single classical discipline, completely expressible in mathematical terms, but rather a complex, multi-and trans-disciplinary field involving deep philosophical questions about the underlying structure of the universe. This paper is an initial attempt to present the fundamental physics of non-quantum information in terms of a novel non-linguistic logic. Originally proposed by the Franco-Romanian thinker Stéphane Lupasco , this logic, grounded in quantum mechanics, can reflect the dual aspects of real processes and their evolution at biological, cognitive and social levels of reality. In my update of this logical system-Logic in Reality (LIR)-a change in perspective is required on the familiar notions in science and philosophy of causality, continuity and discontinuity, time and space. I apply LIR as a critique of current approaches to the physical grounding of information, focusing on its qualitative dualistic aspects at non-quantum levels as a set of physical processes embedded in a physical world.

Philosophers have recently begun to address the new intellectual challenges arising from the world of information and the information society. Consequently, a new and vitally important area of research has begun to emerge, the philosophy of information (PI). This paper is the first attempt to analyse the potential nature of PI systematically. The paper aims to explain (1) what PI is (2) how PI has emerged (3) why there should be a new philosophical discipline such as PI, what PI's scientific goals are and, finally, (5) what interpretations of PI are possible, either as a philosophy of science/technology or as a philosophy of information design. It is argued that PI is the philosophy for the information age, as it offers the systematic treatment of the philosophical foundations of the world of information and of an information society.

Abstract: A consensus is emerging that the multiple forms, functions and properties of information cannot be captured by a simple categorization into classical and quantum information. Similarly, it is unlikely that the applicable physics of information is a single classical discipline, completely expressible in mathematical terms, but rather a complex, multi- and trans-disciplinary field involving deep philosophical questions about the underlying structure of the universe. This paper is an initial attempt to present the fundamental physics of non-quantum information in terms of a novel non-linguistic logic. Originally proposed by the Franco-Romanian thinker Stéphane Lupasco (1900–1988), this logic, grounded in quantum mechanics, can reflect the dual aspects of real processes and their evolution at biological, cognitive and social levels of reality. In my update of this logical system—Logic in Reality (LIR)—a change in perspective is required on the familiar notions in science and philosophy of causality, continuity and discontinuity, time and space. I apply LIR as a critique of current approaches to the physical grounding of information, focusing on its qualitative dualistic aspects at non-quantum levels as a set of physical processes embedded in a physical world. Keywords: contradiction; duality; dynamics; identity; logic; non-separability; ontology; philosophy; physics; system

Philosophies, 2017

In the most general if unconventional terms, science is the study of how man is part of the universe. Philosophy is the study of man's ideas of the universe and how man differs from the rest of the universe. It has of course been recognized that philosophy and science are not totally disjointed. Science is in any case not a monolithic entity but refers to knowledge as the results of reasoning and both invasive and non-invasive experiment. We argue that the philosophy of science, in studying the foundations, methods and implications of science and the link between philosophy and science, must now take into account the impact of the rapidly developing science and philosophy of information. We suggest that the philosophy of information is in fact a metaphilosophy, since informational processes operate in all the sciences and their philosophies. The simplest definition of (a) metaphilosophy is that of a set of statements about (a) philosophy, and any definition of a metaphilosophy thus requires one of philosophy and of the task of philosophy as well. According to Sellars, "the aim of philosophy is to understand how things in the broadest possible sense of the term hang together in the broadest possible sense of the term". In this paper, we focus on the recursive thought underlying those statements as real processes, occurring both in and between the fundamental and the meta-level. We propose a non-standard logic, Logic in Reality, as the logic of those processes. The metaphilosophy of information is thus a framework for talking about the scientific aspects of philosophy and the philosophical aspects of science. Both Logic in Reality and the metaphilosophy of information provide a basis for understanding the physical and epistemological dynamics of existence, that is, from where the properties of things come that enable both them and the concepts of them to contrast, conflict and ultimately "hang together". We conclude that the current convergence of science and philosophy under the influence of information science constitutes a revolution in philosophy, that is, in how science and philosophy are done. Many of the issues discussed in the metaphilosophy of information may thus be viewed as part of an emerging informational metaphilosophy of science.

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 2019

Luciano Floridi elucidated and popularized the ideas of Infosphere, Philosophy of information, The Ethics of Information and Fourth Revolution. The present book has a more ambitious program then the previous ones: a proposed new foundation for philosophy. With Descartes and Kant, epistemology became central replacing the old Aristotelian metaphysics. With Frege's and Wittgenstein's linguistic turn, logic, in the form of a theory of meaning, became central as Dummett and Davidson suggested. With Williamson, metaphysics was again central. Floridi suggests abandoning any representationalist view in order

The combination of logic and information is popular as we as controversial. It is, in fact, not even clear what their juxtaposition, for instance in the title of this chapter, should mean, and indeed different authors have a given a different interpretation to what a or the logic of information might be. Throughout this chapter, I will embrace the plurality of ways in which logic and information can be related and try to individuate a number of fruitful lines of research. In doing so, I want to explain why we should care about the combination, where the controversy comes from, and how certain common themes emerge in different settings.