Philosophy of Information: Revolution in Philosophy. Towards an Informational Metaphilosophy of Science

Abstract

Abstract: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.

Philosophy in Reality: Scientific Discovery and Logical Recovery

“…Wu's innovation in philosophy is that information is not immediately given as matter or energy, even though always requiring them, implies an emerging crisis in philosophy. Information is required as an additional philosophical category, and Wu redefined the philosophy of information as a metaphilosophy [96]. The implications of this change are only beginning to be realized.…”

Contemporary Natural Philosophy and Philosophies

“…The dynamics of information can be modeled as computation, thus forming the basis for the info-computational modeling of a variety of systems, from the physical to the cognitive [8]. According to Kun Wu and Brenner [9], the philosophy of information presents a revolution in philosophy and provides a means of informational metaphilosophy of science that is philosophy of the philosophy of science. We might also add that information, together with its dynamics (computation), presents a new possibility for the development of the modern philosophy of nature/natural philosophy.…”

The Philosophy of Ecology and Sustainability: New Logical and Informational Dimensions

“…Wu Kun sees the philosophy of information as the cause of a revolution in philosophy [67]; Hofkirchner sees the information revolution as contributing to sustainabilism-the result of the process of sustainabilization-needed for the advent of a Global Sustainable Information Society (GSIS), mentioned in Section 3.1 above. The goals of Hofkirchner of a GSIS, of ecological and sustainable practices in society receive further justification and support from grounding in LIR as well as science.…”