-
José María Díaz Nafría
Science of Information Institute, Washington, U.S.A; Universidad de León, Spain
-
Mario Pérez-Montoro
Department of Information Science, University of Barcelona, Spain
Keywords:
Physics of observation, Waves, Inverse problem, Theory of perception, Biophysics, Dretske, Epistemology, Communication, Cognition, Signal, Information content, Information flow
Abstract
Based upon the natural limits of observation, we tackle a critical review of Dretske’s approach to information, knowledge and perception. The physics of the manifestation of an arbitrary object –tackled in Part 2 as a separate article– sets forth an informational boundary stating that information cannot be enough to support our cognitive processes. The problems do not rely –as Dretske supposes- on the lacks of the channel, but on the very nature of observation. Furthermore, Dretske’s approach –handcuffed to his maximalist support on information- presents some lacks concerning processual character of information, fuzziness of perception and knowledge, contents de dicto and conventional regularities. The posed limits and problems intend to settle new foundations for a more refined conjunction of information and knowledge.
Author Biographies
José María Díaz Nafría, Science of Information Institute, Washington, U.S.A; Universidad de León, Spain
obtained M.Sc. in Telecommunication Engineering from the Universidad del País Vasco, Spain, and received his PhD in Telecommunication Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain, with a dissertation on ";Contributions to the electromagnetic inverse problem";. He was also awarded with a M.A. in Philosophy by the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED). He is currently visiting professor at the Munich University of Applied Sciences, investigator at the University of León and part of the board of directors of the Science of Information Institute, where he is also scientific advisor. He is member as well of several international scientific societies in the field of information theories. He was research fellow at the Vienna University of Technology and at the Technical University of Madrid. He also served as professor at the University Alfonso X el Sabio in Madrid between 1997 and 2009. He has been visiting lecturer at the Uni-versity of Furtwangen, Sankt Pölten University of Applied Sciences. Co-director of the “First International Meeting of Experts in Information Theories” (León, Spain, 2008) and the “Colloquium BITae” (León, Spain, 2009) currently coordinates an interdisciplinary research group meted around the BITrum project (Elucidation of the information concept) and co-edits with F. Salto and M. Pérez-Montoro the Glossarium BITri: glossary of concepts, metaphors, theories and problems concerning information (Universidad de León, 2010, http://glossarium.bitrum.unileon.es), where he authors several articles.
Mario Pérez-Montoro, Department of Information Science, University of Barcelona, Spain
Doctor in Philosophy and Education Sciences by the University of Barcelona, where he has been researcher at the Depar-tamento de Lógica, Historia y Filosofía de la Ciencia. He studied in the Istituto di Discipline della Comunicazione in the Università di Bologna and was Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI) at Stanford University. He has been docent and researcher in several universities: Complutense de Madrid, Autònoma de Barcelona, Oberta de Catalunya and he is currently at the Department of Information Science at the University of Barcelona. One of his most known works is the book: The Phenomenon of Information (Scarecrow Press, 2007, published in Spanish by Trotta). He co-edits with J.M. Díaz and F. Salto the Glossarium BITri: glossary of concepts, metaphors, theories and problems concerning information (Universidad de León, 2010, http://glossarium.bitrum.unileon.es), where he authors several articles.
Section
Special Issue: Towards a New Science of Information
