Information and Meaning

1984

Despite the familiar and correct discl3imer that information theory (Shannon and Weaver, 1949) does not concern the semantic level of communication, the technical definition of information nonetheless bears directly and importantly on the subject of meaning. Meaning, at least in one sense of the word, is the recognition of constraint and is based on isomorphism of structure. Constraint reduces information yet information is also the very ~ub

Synthese, 2010

In “General Information in Relevant Logic” (Synthese 167, 2009), the semantics for relevant logic is interpreted in terms of objective information. Objective information is potential data that is available in an environment. This paper explores the notion of objective information further. The concept of availability in an environment is developed and used as a foundation for the semantics, in particular, as a basis for the understanding of the information that is expressed by relevant implication. It is also used to understand the nature of misinformation. A form of relevant logic—called “LOI” for “logic of objective information”—is presented and the relationship between the justification of its proof theory and the semantics is discussed. This relationship is rather reciprocal. Intuitive features of the logic are used to interpret and justify aspects of the model theory and intuitive aspects of the model theory are used to interpret and justify features of the logic. Information conditions are presented for the connectives and the way that they fit into the theory of information is discussed.

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.

Philosophy of Information, 2008

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...

Our main purpose in this paper is to start a process of a systemic definition of the notion of information and to provide some initial practical consequences of it. We will try to do so by means of 1) providing a conceptual definition, following Ackoff's description and method of such a kind of definition 1 , and 2) following Peirce's conception of "meaning", where the practical consequences should be included. 2 To our knowledge, no attempt has been done, up to the present, neither to find a Peircean meaning to the notion of information, nor to start a process of describing a systemic notion of information. Consequently, we will try to identify and integrate the different definitions, senses, and uses of the term "information". To integrate we should first differentiate what is to be internally integrated, and externally related to other essential concepts (e.g. entropy, negentropy, communication, form, etc.) Consequently, we will 1) macro-typify the main conceptions of "information" as subjective and objective, 2) provide adequate description and analysis of each type, 3) relate them to essential concepts or notions, 3) integrate them in the context of a systemic notion of information, via cybernetic coregulative and synergic loops, and 5) show the respective pragmatic consequences, as required by Peirce, for the description of any meaning, and by a pragmatic-teleological systemic epistemology, as described by Churchman. 3 5 The concept of "meaning" is increasingly being discussed in the context of logic and mathematics, where sentences are meaningful or not depending on whether they conform to specified rules or not, or whether they are consistent or not with other sentences, etc. But, in this essay we are not using the word "meaning" in the context of formal logic, because human communication cannot be reduced to logic. We will use the word "meaning" as it is commonly used in speech and written languages, because this is the way it is used in the area of Information Systems and Informing Science. Informing Sciences. We will try to do that by making a first step in the description of a systemic notion of information, i.e. by identifying a comprehensive and related set of the main conceptions of information, its main uses, and the meaning of its principal associated terms.

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, ...

The most fundamental question in the philosophy of information "What is information?" has not received yet a definite answer free from commonly recognized deficiencies. In my earlier work I have proposed a definition of information as an identification of the variety. The definition is based on the concept of the one-many relation, a philosophical theme as old as philosophy itself. The rich tradition of the theme established through the centuries of philosophical discourse is in a clear contrast to the common sense concepts such as "uncertainty" usually utilized in attempts to set foundations for the concept of information. An identification of the variety can have two basic forms of a selection of one out many in the variety, or of the structure uniting the variety (many) into one. The distinction of the forms of identification leads to the distinction between the selective and structural information. However, since every occurrence of one type of information is always accompanied by the other, selective and structural information can be considered just different manifestations of the uniform concept of information. The selective information can be easily identified with the concept of information in its usual understanding. The structural manifestation of information has been considered usually in the context of integration of information. In the present paper the analysis of the concept of information based on the one-many relation is being carried out in the three perspectives. First, the philosophical aspects of information are considered. Then, the concept of information is being identified in a selection of very different domains. For instance, Hutcheson's concept of beauty dominating classical aesthetics since 18 th century, understood as "unity in variety," provides an example of an idea very close to structural information. Integration of the neuronal activity in the brain considered as a basis for consciousness by Edelman and his collaborators can be also viewed as an example of structural information in a different domain. Finally, an attempt is being made to identify a mathematical formalism which reflects the distinction of the selective and structural information. of the numerous former attempts to define the meaning of this uniform concept of information. In particular, I cannot accept the two most popular formulations of the definition of information as a "resolution, reduction of uncertainty" or as a "difference which makes a difference" [3], as their logical status and explanatory value are not much different from the expressions of desperation in dozens of other attempts to grasp the meaning of information such as "We conclude that we are not able to say confidently of anything that it could not be information" [4], or "Information is anything that we can count or use as information" .

Cybernetics and System, '86

This paper argues for a metaphysics of indeterminism to complement the currently dominant deterministic metaphysics of science.