Information and the History of Philosophy (Rewriting the History of Philosophy)

Description

In recent years the philosophy of information has emerged as an important area of research in philosophy. However, until now information’s philosophical history has been largely overlooked. Information and the History of Philosophy is the first comprehensive investigation of the history of philosophical questions around information, including work from before the Common Era to the twenty-first century. It covers scientific and technology-centred notions of information, views of human information processing, as well as socio-political topics such as the control and use of information in societies. Organised into five parts, 19 chapters by an international team of contributors cover the following topics and more: Information before 500 CE, including ancient Chinese, Greek and Roman approaches to information; Early theories of information processing, sources of information and cognition; Information and computation in Leibniz, visualised scientific information, copyright and social reform; The nineteenth century, including biological information, knowledge economies and information’s role in empire and eugenics; Recent and contemporary philosophy of information, including racialised information, Shannon information and the very idea of an information revolution. Information and the History of Philosophy is a landmark publication in this emerging field. As such, it is essential reading for students and researchers in the history of philosophy, philosophy of science and technology, and library and information studies. It is also a valuable resource for those working in subjects such as the history of science, media and communication studies and intellectual history. Cover Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Figures and Tables Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction Natures Access Control (Dangerous) Systems Insurgencies Notes Part I Information Before 500 CE: Natures 1 Yinyang Information: Order, Know-How, and a Know-How,-Relation-Based Paradigm A Short Description of Yinyang Yinyang Information As Reflecting of the Order of Things Yinyang Information As Know-How Relations-based Yinyang Information Model Notes 2 Plato On the Act of Informing: Meaningful Speech and Education Introduction Meaningful Speech A Lógos As a Unit of Information Names As Descriptions Education Different Sorts and Sources of Information Accessing Information Conclusion Notes References 3 On Information in Aristotle: Nature, Perception, Knowledge Introduction Environmental Instructional Information in Aristotle? Reception of Perceptible Forms in Perception Reception of Information and Acquisition of Knowledge Notes References 4 Information and History of Psychiatry: The Case of the Disease Phrenitis The Label Phrenitis and Greek Traditional Discourses About the Mind The Body of the Phrenitic Patient Head Or Heart? Phrenitis at the Crossroad Between encephalocentrism and Cardiocentrism Quasi Phreniticus: the Disease As Metaphor Conclusions Notes References Part II Information 500–1500: Access 5 Vacaspati On Aboutness and Decomposition Sautrantika Decompositionalism A Partial Argument for Sautrantika Decompositionalism How Decompositionalism Leads to Idealism The Argument Against Idealism The Nature of Aboutness A. Aboutness As a Natural Relation B. Aboutness As a Self-Linking Relation C. Aboutness As An Irreflexive Relation Taking Stock Notes Bibliography 6 Seeing and Recognition in the Arabian Nights and Islamic Alexander Legends Shahrazad, Benjaminian Storyteller of Experience The Epistemology of Recognition Narrativized Alexander, the Seeing Traveler To See Is Not to See Conclusions Notes 7 Avicenna On Information Processing and Abstraction Introduction The Cognitive Content of Sense-Perception Abstraction and Emanation Avicennian Issues in Contemporary Epistemology Notes References Further Reading 8 Thomas Aquinas On Cognition As Information Cognizant Beings “Receiving Forms Without the Matter” Spiritual/intentional Vs Natural Existence Intentional Species in the Medium Intelligible Species The Role of Species in Cognition Notes References Part III Information 1500–1800: Control 9 Leibniz As a Precursor to Chaitin’s Algorithmic Information Theory Introduction The Rudiments of AIT: Complexity, and Irreducibility Leibniz’s Anticipations Determinism, Contingency and Computability Physical Laws and Information Conclusion Notes References 10 Information Visualisation in the Philosophical Transactions Introduction Journal Visualisations Diagrams Maps Graphs Visualise for User Performance Conclusion Notes References 11 ‘Dwindled Into Confusion and Nonsense’: Information in a Copyright Perspective from the Statute of Anne to Google Books Early Copyright: ‘An Act for the Encouragement of Learning’ Kant’s Theory of Copyright Daniel Defoe and the Freedom of the Press The Right to the Integrity of the Work Google Books Conclusion Notes References 12 Information in the Pursuit of Social Reform Introduction: the Need for Adequate Information in the Pursuit of social and Democratic Reform Requisites for Advances in Social Science Major Sources On Methodology The 17th Century, Emergence of Scientific Method 18th-century Enlightenment, French and British 19th-century Social Physics and Social Science Mme De Staël and the Pursuit of “Geometric” Political Science Abolition of the Slave Trade Other Correspondence With Thomas Jefferson Florence Nightingale: Information for Social Reform A Cautionary Conclusion Bibliography Further Reading Part IV Information in the nineteenth Century: (Dangerous) Systems 13 The Nineteenth-Century Information Revolution and World Peace An All-Encompassing Revolution The Post Office After Hill The Cultural Effects of Imperial Communication Conclusion Notes 14 Charles Babbage’s Economy of Knowledge Introduction Standardizing and Economizing On Knowledge The Division of Labour and the Babbage Principle Innovation Transactions Costs Search Costs and Middlemen Knowledge and Progress Notes References 15 Mendel On Developmental Information Introduction Mendel and Gärtner On Development (entwicklung) Mendel’s “developmental Series (entwicklungsreihe)” Mendel’s Novel Conceptualisation: The Laws of Developmental Series Mendel and the Study of Heredity Conclusion Notes References 16 Information and Eugenics: Francis Galton Introduction: The Scramble for Information Data Gathering: Methods and Objects Data Sharing Inheritance Ethics Aftermath Notes Bibliography Further Reading Part V Information After 1900: Insurgencies 17 The Racialization of Information: W.E.B. Du Bois, Early Intersectionality, and Social Information Du Bois and the Inauguration of Intersectional Social Information The Distinctiveness of Du Bois’s Contributions to Social Information Du Bois, Rural Information, and Urban Information Du Bois and Racial Information Du Bois and Gendered Information Du Bois and Religious Information Du Bois and Educational Information Du Bois and Criminological Information Du Bois, Intersectional Sociology, and Social Information Bibliography Further Reading 18 The Many Faces of shannon Information Introduction Recalling the Formalism of Shannon’s Theory The Roots of Shannon’s Theory About the Concept of Shannon Information About the Interpretation of Shannon Information From Shannon Theory to Quantum Information Theory A Formal View of Shannon Information The Many Faces of Shannon Theory References 19 Computers and System(s) Science—the Kingpins of Modern Technology: Lotfi Zadeh’s Glimpses Into the Future of the Information Revolution Introduction The Information Revolution A Biographical Sketch A View of the Future (from the 1950s) Let’s Go Digital! The First Generalization of System(s) Theory In the Wake of a Sabbatical at the Ias Calling for An Institute Fuzzy Sets Computing With Words Second and Third Generalization of System Theory Education in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Two Further Views of the Future (from the 1970s) Conclusions Notes Bibliography Index