Information theory and epistemology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Dretske
Keyword(s):  
Information Theory ◽  
Mutual Information ◽  
Mathematical Theory ◽  
Communication Theory ◽  
Sufficient Reason ◽  
The Other ◽  
Perceptual Knowledge ◽  
The World ◽  
Theory Of Information ◽  
Naturalistic Account

The mathematical theory of information (also called communication theory) defines a quantity called mutual information that exists between a source, s, and receiver, r. Mutual information is a statistical construct, a quantity defined in terms of conditional probabilities between the events occurring at r and s. If what happens at r depends on what happens at s to some degree, then there is a communication ‘channel’ between r and s, and mutual information at r about s. If, on the other hand, the events at two points are statistically independent, there is zero mutual information. Philosophers and psychologists are attracted to information theory because of its potential as a useful tool in describing an organism’s cognitive relations to the world. The attractions are especially great for those who seek a naturalistic account of knowledge, an account that avoids normative – and, therefore, scientifically unusable – ideas such as rational warrant, sufficient reason and adequate justification. According to this approach, philosophically problematic notions like evidence, knowledge, recognition and perception – perhaps even meaning – can be understood in communication terms. Perceptual knowledge, for instance, might best be rendered in terms of a brain (r) receiving mutual information about a worldly source (s) via sensory channels. When incoming signals carry appropriate information, suitably equipped brains ‘decode’ these signals, extract information and thereby come to know what is happening in the outside world. Perception becomes information-produced belief.

scholarly journals Communication Concepts vs. Sciences Concepts

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 48-57
Author(s):  
Daniela Gîfu ◽  
Mirela Teodorescu
Keyword(s):  
Information Theory ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Output Feedback ◽  
Communication Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Input Output ◽  
Behavioural Effects ◽  
Scientific Disciplines ◽  
System Input

The scientists as Bateson, Watzlawick expresses the determining role of interaction in the axiom of the “impossibility of not communicating”. All behavior (verbal and nonverbal) occurring between persons who are conscious of each other's presence has behavioural effects, whether intended or not. Such effects have interpersonal message value, and thus are communicative in nature. Since it is impossible for humans not to behave in one way or another, it follows that in interaction it is impossible not to communicate (Bateson, 1963; Watzlawick et al., 1967). Communication theory is relatively new as science and interacts with the other disciplines of sciences. During its development some of the notions were used that were already committed and comprehensive. This article aims to present some of them. Terms as system, input, output, feedback, entropy specific to scientific disciplines as systems theory, cybernetics, information theory, physics, are especially used in communication theory.

scholarly journals Constructor theory of information

2015 ◽  
Vol 471 (2174) ◽  
pp. 20140540 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Deutsch ◽  
Chiara Marletto
Keyword(s):  
Information Theory ◽  
Quantum Information ◽  
A Priori ◽  
The Other ◽  
Theoretic Property ◽  
Physical Systems ◽  
Logical Concept ◽  
Theory Of Information ◽  
The Relationship

We propose a theory of information expressed solely in terms of which transformations of physical systems are possible and which are impossible—i.e. in constructor-theoretic terms. It includes conjectured, exact laws of physics expressing the regularities that allow information to be physically instantiated. Although these laws are directly about information, independently of the details of particular physical instantiations, information is not regarded as an a priori mathematical or logical concept, but as something whose nature and properties are determined by the laws of physics alone. This theory solves a problem at the foundations of existing information theory, namely that information and distinguishability are each defined in terms of the other. It also explains the relationship between classical and quantum information, and reveals the single, constructor-theoretic property underlying the most distinctive phenomena associated with the latter, including the lack of in-principle distinguishability of some states, the impossibility of cloning, the existence of pairs of variables that cannot simultaneously have sharp values, the fact that measurement processes can be both deterministic and unpredictable, the irreducible perturbation caused by measurement, and locally inaccessible information (as in entangled systems).

Wars of National Liberation II

Worldview ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 4-8
Author(s):  
Robert A. Gessert
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Sufficient Reason ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
Free World ◽  
National Liberation ◽  
Nuclear War ◽  
The World ◽  
The One

It is sometimes suggested that nuclear weapons technology has made the world safe for “wars of national liberation.” I don't happen to accept this proposition, but I do acknowledge that “wars of national liberation” are a prominent part of both the declaratory and action policies of the Communist world. The free world does not have the option of declining to respond to such wars. This is sufficient reason for attempts to assay the ethical issues they raise.Wars of liberation have been called “political wars.” I assume two different things are intended by this: on the one hand, that they have a larger political component than other wars in that they do emphasize or circumvent some of the more typical military missions such as seizing and holding territory; on the other hand, as compared with nuclear war, they seem more nearly to be. compatible with Clausewitx's dictum that war is a continuation of policy. There are difficulties with both notions, but I do acknowledge that wars of liberation are intimately related to the political purposes of their sponsors and that they do generally employ means aimed directly at political power and try to postpone or avoid military engagements as the determinants of their outcome.

scholarly journals Information: Problems, Paradoxes, and Solutions

1970 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-70
Author(s):  
Mark Burgin
Keyword(s):  
Information Theory ◽  
General Theory ◽  
Information Age ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
The World ◽  
Adequate Definition ◽  
Theory Of Information ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Definition Of Information

The information age is upon us and the main paradox is that there is no satisfactory and commonly accepted answer to the crucial question what information is. This results in a quantity of contradictions, misconceptions, and paradoxes related to the world of information. We consider the existing situation in information studies, which is very paradoxical and inconsistent, in the first part of this paper. To remedy the situation, a new approach in information theory, which is called the general theory of information, is developed. The main achievement of the general theory of information is explication of a relevant and adequate definition of information. This theory is built on an axiomatic base as a system of two classes of principles and their consequences. The first class consists of the ontological principles, which are revealing general properties and regularities of information and its functioning. Principles from the second class explain how to measure information.

scholarly journals Hegel’s logic as the exposition of god from the end of the world

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 852-874
Author(s):  
Jure Simoniti
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
German Idealism ◽  
Sufficient Reason ◽  
The Other ◽  
Logical Space ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Principle Of Sufficient Reason ◽  
The World ◽  
The Absolute

The article attempts to reconstruct the logical space within which, at the beginning of Hegel?s Logic, ?being? and ?nothing? are entitled to emerge and receive their names. In German Idealism, the concept of ?being? is linked to the form of a proposition; Fichte grounds a new truth-value on the absolute thesis of the ?thetical judgement?. And the article?s first thesis claims that Hegel couldn?t have placed ?being? at the beginning of this great system, if the ground of its logical space had not been laid out by precisely those shifts of German Idealism that posited the ontological function of the judgement. At the same time, the abstract negation, the absence of a relation and sufficient reason between ?being? and ?nothing?, reveals a structure of an irreducibly dual beginning. The logical background of this original duality could be constituted by the invention of the ?transcendental inter-subjectivity? in German Idealism, manifested, for instance, in Hegel?s life-and-death struggle of two self-consciousnesses. The second thesis therefore suggests that ?being? and ?nothing? are elements of the logical space, established in concreto in a social situation of (at least) two subjects one of whom poses an affirmative statement and the other negates it abstractly. From here, one could draw out the coordinates of a sphere by the name of ?public? whose structure is defined by the invalidation of two basic laws of thought, the law of non-contradiction and the principle of sufficient reason. The article shows how only the statements capable of absorbing negation, of sustaining a co-existence of affirmation and its symmetrical, abstract negation, can climb the ladder of public perceptibility and social impact.

scholarly journals Information: Problems, Paradoxes, and Solutions

1970 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Burgin
Keyword(s):  
Information Theory ◽  
General Theory ◽  
Information Age ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
The World ◽  
Adequate Definition ◽  
Theory Of Information ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Definition Of Information

The information age is upon us and the main paradox is that there is no satisfactory and commonly accepted answer to the crucial question what information is. This results in a quantity of contradictions, misconceptions, and paradoxes related to the world of information. We consider the existing situation in information studies, which is very paradoxical and inconsistent, in the first part of this paper. To remedy the situation, a new approach in information theory, which is called the general theory of information, is developed. The main achievement of the general theory of information is explication of a relevant and adequate definition of information. This theory is built on an axiomatic base as a system of two classes of principles and their consequences. The first class consists of the ontological principles, which are revealing general properties and regularities of information and its functioning. Principles from the second class explain how to measure information.

scholarly journals A Method to Present and Analyze Ensembles of Information Sources

Entropy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 580
Author(s):  
Nicholas M. Timme ◽  
David Linsenbardt ◽  
Christopher C. Lapish
Keyword(s):  
Information Theory ◽  
Mutual Information ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Surrogate Data ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Large Ensembles ◽  
Individual Variables ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Randomization Process

Information theory is a powerful tool for analyzing complex systems. In many areas of neuroscience, it is now possible to gather data from large ensembles of neural variables (e.g., data from many neurons, genes, or voxels). The individual variables can be analyzed with information theory to provide estimates of information shared between variables (forming a network between variables), or between neural variables and other variables (e.g., behavior or sensory stimuli). However, it can be difficult to (1) evaluate if the ensemble is significantly different from what would be expected in a purely noisy system and (2) determine if two ensembles are different. Herein, we introduce relatively simple methods to address these problems by analyzing ensembles of information sources. We demonstrate how an ensemble built of mutual information connections can be compared to null surrogate data to determine if the ensemble is significantly different from noise. Next, we show how two ensembles can be compared using a randomization process to determine if the sources in one contain more information than the other. All code necessary to carry out these analyses and demonstrations are provided.

scholarly journals A Dialogue Concerning the Essence and Role of Information in the World System

Information ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Burgin ◽  
Jaime F. Cárdenas-García
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Mathematical Theory ◽  
World System ◽  
Feedback Process ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
The World ◽  
Theory Of Information ◽  
Role Of Information

The goal of this paper is to represent two approaches to the phenomenon of information, explicating its nature and essence. In this context, Mark Burgin demonstrates how the general theory of information (GTI) describes and elucidates the phenomenon of information by explaining the axiomatic foundations for information studies and presenting the comprising mathematical theory of information. The perspective promoted by Jaime F. Cárdenas-García is based on Gregory Bateson’s description of information as “difference which makes a difference” and involves the process of info-autopoiesis as a sensory commensurable, self-referential feedback process.

Gratuitous Evil and Divine Existence

1989 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Yandell
Keyword(s):  
Sufficient Reason ◽  
The Other ◽  
Simple Argument ◽  
Gratuitous Evil ◽  
The World

God, who is an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent Creator and Providence, exists and There is evil are logically compatible claims. God exists, If God exists, then He has a morally sufficient reason for allowing any evil that He does allow, and There is evil is a consistent triad of propositions. Thus any pair from that triad is also consistent. Thus God exists and There is evil are logically compatible. But this does not settle the question as to whether the truth of There is evil in the world has such consequences for theism as making it highly improbable that God exists or making it unreasonable to believe that God exists. That propositions P and Q are logically compatible does not entail that one does not provide powerful evidence against the other. In particular, it has seemed that some actual evils are gratuitous or in some manner just could not fit into a God-made world. Thus the simple argument is offered that: (1) There are gratuitous evils; (2) If there are gratuitous evils, then there is no God; so: (3) There is no God. I will call this simple argument the ‘root argument’, for it is this argument and sophistications of it that will occupy us hereafter.

Indonesian Literature’s Position in World Literature

TEKNOSASTIK ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Dina Amelia
Keyword(s):  
World Literature ◽  
The Other ◽  
National Literature ◽  
Western World ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
The Voice

There are two most inevitable issues on national literature, in this case Indonesian literature. First is the translation and the second is the standard of world literature. Can one speak for the other as a representative? Why is this representation matter? Does translation embody the voice of the represented? Without translation Indonesian literature cannot gain its recognition in world literature, yet, translation conveys the voice of other. In the case of production, publication, or distribution of Indonesian Literature to the world, translation works can be very beneficial. The position of Indonesian literature is as a part of world literature. The concept that the Western world should be the one who represent the subaltern can be overcome as long as the subaltern performs as the active speaker. If the subaltern remains silent then it means it allows the “representation” by the Western.

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