The informal logic movement began as an attempt to develop – and teach – an alternative logic which can account for the real life arguing that surrounds us in our daily lives – in newspapers and the popular media, political and social commentary, advertising, and interpersonal exchange. The movement was rooted in research and discussion in Canada and especially at the University of Windsor, and has become a branch of argumentation theory which intersects with related traditions and (...) approaches (notably formal logic, rhetoric and dialectics in the form of pragma-dialectics). In this volume, some of the best known contributors to the movement discuss their views and the reasoning and argument which is informal logic’s subject matter. Many themes and issues are explored in a way that will fuel the continued evolution of the field. Federico Puppo adds an insightful essay which considers the origins and development of informal logic and whether informal logicians are properly described as a “school” of thought. In considering that proposition, Puppo introduces readers to a diverse range of essays, some of them previously published, others written specifically for this volume. (shrink)

One of the open problems in the philosophy of information is whether there is an information logic (IL), different from epistemic (EL) and doxastic logic (DL), which formalises the relation “a is informed that p” (Iap) satisfactorily. In this paper, the problem is solved by arguing that the axiom schemata of the normal modal logic (NML) KTB (also known as B or Br or Brouwer’s system) are well suited to formalise the relation of “being informed”. After having (...) shown that IL can be constructed as an informational reading of KTB, four consequences of a KTB-based IL are explored: information overload; the veridicality thesis (Iap → p); the relation between IL and EL; and the Kp → Bp principle or entailment property, according to which knowledge implies belief. Although these issues are discussed later in the article, they are the motivations behind the development of IL. (shrink)

Much work in MKM depends on the application of formal logic to mathematics. However, much mathematical knowledge is informal. Luckily, formal logic only represents one tradition in logic, specifically the modeling of inference in terms of logical form. Many inferences cannot be captured in this manner. The study of such inferences is still within the domain of logic, and is sometimes called informal logic. This paper explores some of the benefits informal (...) class='Hi'>logic may have for the management of informal mathematical knowledge. (shrink)

This short work presents a popular fringe theory as a source of case studies for use in teaching informal logic in an introductory course. It puts forward ancient astronaut theory as the candidate source, together with a characterization of why it fits the bill. The televised material associated with that theory is well suited to being used as case studies given that they are easy to follow, contain a surprising number of arguments and fallacies, and keep students reliably (...) engaged. The paper includes an overview of the forms of argumentation and fallacies that these cases may be used to teach, along with a sketch of how to best implement them in the classroom. (shrink)

The argument diagramming method developed by Monroe C. Beardsley in his (1950) book Practical Logic, which has since become the gold standard for diagramming arguments in informal logic, makes it possible to map the relation between premises and conclusions of a chain of reasoning in relatively complex ways. The method has since been adapted and developed in a number of directions by many contemporary informal logicians and argumentation theorists. It has proved useful in practical applications and (...) especially pedagogically in teaching basic logic and critical reasoning skills at all levels of scientific education. I propose in this essay to build on Beardsley diagramming techniques to refine and supplement their structural tools for visualizing logical relationships in a number of categories not originally accommodated by Beardsley diagramming, including circular reasoning, reductio ad absurdum arguments, and efforts to dispute and contradict arguments, with applications and analysis. (shrink)

Information-theoretic approaches to formal logic analyse the "common intuitive" concept of propositional implication (or argumental validity) in terms of information content of propositions and sets of propositions: one given proposition implies a second if the former contains all of the information contained by the latter; an argument is valid if the conclusion contains no information beyond that of the premise-set. This paper locates information-theoretic approaches historically, philosophically and pragmatically. Advantages and disadvantages are identified by examining such approaches in themselves (...) and by contrasting them with standard transformation-theoretic approaches. Transformation-theoretic approaches analyse validity (and thus implication) in terms of transformations that map one argument onto another: a given argument is valid if no transformation carries it onto an argument with all true premises and false conclusion. Model-theoretic, set-theoretic, and substitution-theoretic approaches, which dominate current literature, can be construed as transformation-theoretic, as can the so-called possible-worlds approaches. Ontic and epistemic presuppositions of both types of approaches are considered. Attention is given to the question of whether our historically cumulative experience applying logic is better explained from a purely information-theoretic perspective or from a purely transformation-theoretic perspective or whether apparent conflicts between the two types of approaches need to be reconciled in order to forge a new type of approach that recognizes their basic complementarity. (shrink)

Gaining information can be modelled as a narrowing of epistemic space . Intuitively, becoming informed that such-and-such is the case rules out certain scenarios or would-be possibilities. Chalmers’s account of epistemic space treats it as a space of a priori possibility and so has trouble in dealing with the information which we intuitively feel can be gained from logical inference. I propose a more inclusive notion of epistemic space, based on Priest’s notion of open worlds yet which contains only those (...) epistemic scenarios which are not obviously impossible. Whether something is obvious is not always a determinate matter and so the resulting picture is of an epistemic space with fuzzy boundaries. (shrink)

In this article, I outline a logic of design of a system as a specific kind of conceptual logic of the design of the model of a system, that is, the blueprint that provides information about the system to be created. In section two, I introduce the method of levels of abstraction as a modelling tool borrowed from computer science. In section three, I use this method to clarify two main conceptual logics of information inherited from modernity: Kant’s (...) transcendental logic of conditions of possibility of a system, and Hegel’s dialectical logic of conditions of in/stability of a system. Both conceptual logics of information analyse structural properties of given systems. Strictly speaking, neither is a conceptual logic of information about the conditions of feasibility of a system, that is, neither is a logic of information as a logic of design. So, in section four, I outline this third conceptual logic of information and then interpret the conceptual logic of design as a logic of requirements, by introducing the relation of “sufficientisation”. In the conclusion, I argue that the logic of requirements is exactly what we need in order to make sense of, and buttress, a constructionist approach to knowledge. (shrink)

Information-theoretic approaches to formal logic analyze the "common intuitive" concepts of implication, consequence, and validity in terms of information content of propositions and sets of propositions: one given proposition implies a second if the former contains all of the information contained by the latter; one given proposition is a consequence of a second if the latter contains all of the information contained by the former; an argument is valid if the conclusion contains no information beyond that of the premise-set. (...) This paper locates information-theoretic approaches historically, philosophically, and pragmatically. Advantages and disadvantages are identified by examining such approaches in themselves and by contrasting them with standard transformation-theoretic approaches. Transformation-theoretic approaches analyze validity (and thus implication) in terms of transformations that map one argument onto another: a given argument is valid if no transformation carries it onto an argument with all true premises and false conclusion. Model-theoretic, set-theoretic, and substitution-theoretic approaches, which dominate current literature, can be construed as transformation-theoretic, as can the so-called possible-worlds approaches. Ontic and epistemic presuppositions of both types of approaches are considered. Attention is given to the question of whether our historically cumulative experience applying logic is better explained from a purely information-theoretic perspective or from a purely transformation-theoretic perspective or whether apparent conflicts between the two types of approaches need to be reconciled in order to forge a new type of approach that recognizes their basic complementarity. (shrink)

Logical information theory is the quantitative version of the logic of partitions just as logical probability theory is the quantitative version of the dual Boolean logic of subsets. The resulting notion of information is about distinctions, differences and distinguishability and is formalized using the distinctions of a partition. All the definitions of simple, joint, conditional and mutual entropy of Shannon information theory are derived by a uniform transformation from the corresponding definitions at the logical level. The purpose of (...) this paper is to give the direct generalization to quantum logical information theory that similarly focuses on the pairs of eigenstates distinguished by an observable, i.e., qudits of an observable. The fundamental theorem for quantum logical entropy and measurement establishes a direct quantitative connection between the increase in quantum logical entropy due to a projective measurement and the eigenstates that are distinguished by the measurement. Both the classical and quantum versions of logical entropy have simple interpretations as “two-draw” probabilities for distinctions. The conclusion is that quantum logical entropy is the simple and natural notion of information for quantum information theory focusing on the distinguishing of quantum states. (shrink)

Quantum information is discussed as the universal substance of the world. It is interpreted as that generalization of classical information, which includes both finite and transfinite ordinal numbers. On the other hand, any wave function and thus any state of any quantum system is just one value of quantum information. Information and its generalization as quantum information are considered as quantities of elementary choices. Their units are correspondingly a bit and a qubit. The course of time is what generates choices (...) by itself, thus quantum information and any item in the world in final analysis. The course of time generates necessarily choices so: The future is absolutely unorderable in principle while the past is always well-ordered and thus unchangeable. The present as the mediation between them needs the well-ordered theorem equivalent to the axiom of choice. The latter guarantees the choice even among the elements of an infinite set, which is the case of quantum information. The concrete and abstract objects share information as their common base, which is quantum as to the formers and classical as to the latters. The general quantities of matter in physics, mass and energy can be considered as particular cases of quantum information. The link between choice and abstraction in set theory allows of “Hume’s principle” to be interpreted in terms of quantum mechanics as equivalence of “many” and “much” underlying quantum information. Quantum information as the universal substance of the world calls for the unity of physics and mathematics rather than that of the concrete and abstract objects and thus for a form of quantum neo-Pythagoreanism in final analysis. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to review and discuss Luciano Floridi’s 2019 book The Logic of Information: A Theory of Philosophy as Conceptual Design, the latest instalment in his philosophy of information (PI) tetralogy, particularly with respect to its implications for library and information studies (LIS) .

An important problem with machine learning is that when label number n>2, it is very difficult to construct and optimize a group of learning functions, and we wish that optimized learning functions are still useful when prior distribution P(x) (where x is an instance) is changed. To resolve this problem, the semantic information G theory, Logical Bayesian Inference (LBI), and a group of Channel Matching (CM) algorithms together form a systematic solution. MultilabelMultilabel A semantic channel in the G theory consists (...) of a group of truth functions or membership functions. In comparison with likelihood functions, Bayesian posteriors, and Logistic functions used by popular methods, membership functions can be more conveniently used as learning functions without the above problem. In Logical Bayesian Inference (LBI), every label’s learning is independent. For Multilabel learning, we can directly obtain a group of optimized membership functions from a big enough sample with labels, without preparing different samples for different labels. A group of Channel Matching (CM) algorithms are developed for machine learning. For the Maximum Mutual Information (MMI) classification of three classes with Gaussian distributions on a two-dimensional feature space, 2-3 iterations can make mutual information between three classes and three labels surpass 99% of the MMI for most initial partitions. For mixture models, the Expectation-Maxmization (EM) algorithm is improved and becomes the CM-EM algorithm, which can outperform the EM algorithm when mixture ratios are imbalanced, or local convergence exists. The CM iteration algorithm needs to combine neural networks for MMI classifications on high-dimensional feature spaces. LBI needs further studies for the unification of statistics and logic. (shrink)

Abstract This paper explores the fundamental reason why consciousness follows the logic of information. It examines the role of the five senses as channels for physical data, how these senses are governed by the laws of physics, and how conscious processing is influenced by feedback loops. Integrating these elements with the universal law of balance in nature, the paper presents a holistic model that unifies consciousness, sensory experience, and natural law. This model supports the claim that information, logic, (...) and balance are inseparable elements of conscious awareness and decision-making. -/- . (shrink)

The paper argues that the two best known formal logical fallacies, namely denying the antecedent (DA) and affirming the consequent (AC) are not just basic and simple errors, which prove human irrationality, but rather informational shortcuts, which may provide a quick and dirty way of extracting useful information from the environment. DA and AC are shown to be degraded versions of Bayes’ theorem, once this is stripped of some of its probabilities. The less the probabilities count, the closer these fallacies (...) become to a reasoning that is not only informationally useful but also logically valid. (shrink)

Purpose – To review and discuss Luciano Floridi’s 2019 book The Logic of Information: A Theory of Philosophy as Conceptual Design, the latest instalment in his philosophy of information (PI) tetralogy, particularly with respect to its implications for library and information studies (LIS). Design/methodology/approach – Nine scholars with research interests in philosophy and LIS read and responded to the book, raising critical and heuristic questions in the spirit of scholarly dialogue. Floridi responded to these questions. Findings – Floridi’s PI, (...) including this latest publication, is of interest to LIS scholars, and much insight can be gained by exploring this connection. It seems also that LIS has the potential to contribute to PI’s further development in some respects. Research implications – Floridi’s PI work is technical philosophy for which many LIS scholars do not have the training or patience to engage with, yet doing so is rewarding. This suggests a role for translational work between philosophy and LIS. Originality/value – The book symposium format, not yet seen in LIS, provides forum for sustained, multifaceted and generative dialogue around ideas. (shrink)

Public Announcement Logic (PAL), as a paradigmatic fragment of Dynamic Epistemic Logic (DEL), implements information change by model restriction; under probabilistic semantics this reduces to classical conditioning and therefore yields commutative sequential update (up to conjunction of announced events). By contrast, the minimal Lüders instrument for sharp quantum yes/no questions induces noncommutative state dynamics whenever the associated projectors fail to commute, generating order effects. We formalize PAL updates as conditioning endomorphisms on Boolean event algebras and Lüders updates as (...) completely positive trace-preserving maps on density operators. We prove: (i) all PAL-style fixed-meaning announcement updates commute whenever both orders are defined; (ii) Lüders channels commute on all states if and only if the underlying projectors commute; (iii) consequently, no PAL-style conditioning semantics with context-independent proposition identity can represent Lüders order effects while preserving sequential composition. A conservative embedding theorem is provided: restricting to an abelian algebra generated by commuting projectors, Lüders update collapses to classical conditioning, recovering PAL as a commutative subtheory. (shrink)

Starting at the logical level of the logic of partitions, dual to the usual Boolean logic of subsets, the notion of logical entropy, i.e., information as distinctions, is developed as the quantification of the distinctions of partitions—just as probability theory starts with the quantification of elements of subsets. Logical entropy is compared and contrasted with the usual notion of Shannon entropy. Then a semi-algorithmic procedure (from the mathematical folklore) is used to translate the notion of logical entropy at (...) the set level to the corresponding notion of quantum logical entropy at the (Hilbert) vector space level. Examples and some important propositions relate quantum logical entropy to projective measurement and to the Hilbert-Schmidt distance. Overall, the approach demonstrates the logical basis and naturality of this notion of entropy for quantum mechanics. (shrink)

According to a prevalent view among philosophers formal logic is the philosopher’s main tool to assess the validity of arguments, i.e. the philosopher’s ars iudicandi. By drawing on a famous dispute between Russell and Strawson over the validity of a certain kind of argument – of arguments whose premises feature definite descriptions – this paper casts doubt on the accuracy of the ars iudicandi conception. Rather than settling the question whether the contentious arguments are valid or not, Russell and (...) Strawson, upon discussing the proper logical analysis of definite descriptions, merely contrast converse informal validity assessments rendered explicit by nonequivalent logical for-malizations. (shrink)

In this work, we propose a definition of logical consequence based on the relation between the quantity of information present in a particular set of formulae and a particular formula. As a starting point, we use Shannon‟s quantitative notion of information, founded on the concepts of logarithmic function and probability value. We first consider some of the basic elements of an axiomatic probability theory, and then construct a probabilistic semantics for languages of classical propositional logic. We define the quantity (...) of information for the formulae of these languages and introduce the concept of informational logical consequence, identifying some important results, among them: certain arguments that have traditionally been considered valid, such as modus ponens, are not valid from the informational perspective; the logic underlying informational logical consequence is not classical, and is at the least paraconsistent sensu lato; informational logical consequence is not a Tarskian logical consequence. (shrink)

Any logic is represented as a certain collection of well-orderings admitting or not some algebraic structure such as a generalized lattice. Then universal logic should refer to the class of all subclasses of all well-orderings. One can construct a mapping between Hilbert space and the class of all logics. Thus there exists a correspondence between universal logic and the world if the latter is considered a collection of wave functions, as which the points in Hilbert space can (...) be interpreted. The correspondence can be further extended to the foundation of mathematics by set theory and arithmetic, and thus to all mathematics. (shrink)

Information-based epistemology maintains that ‘being informed’ is an independent cognitive state that cannot be reduced to knowledge or to belief, and the modal logic KTB has been proposed as a model. But what distinguishes the KTB analysis of ‘being informed’, the Brouwersche schema (B), is precisely its downfall, for no logic of information should include (B) and, more generally, no epistemic logic should include (B), either.

The new logic of partitions is dual to the usual Boolean logic of subsets (usually presented only in the special case of the logic of propositions) in the sense that partitions and subsets are category-theoretic duals. The new information measure of logical entropy is the normalized quantitative version of partitions. The new approach to interpreting quantum mechanics (QM) is showing that the mathematics (not the physics) of QM is the linearized Hilbert space version of the mathematics of (...) partitions. Or, putting it the other way around, the math of partitions is a skeletal version of the math of QM. The key concepts throughout this progression from logic, to logical information, to quantum theory are distinctions versus indistinctions, definiteness versus indefiniteness, or distinguishability versus indistinguishability. The distinctions of a partition are the ordered pairs of elements from the underlying set that are in different blocks of the partition and logical entropy is defined (initially) as the normalized number of distinctions. The cognate notions of definiteness and distinguishability run throughout the math of QM, e.g., in the key non-classical notion of superposition (= ontic indefiniteness) and in the Feynman rules for adding amplitudes (indistinguishable alternatives) versus adding probabilities (distinguishable alternatives). (shrink)

This paper outlines a conceptual model in which space, time, and physical law emerge not from any prior physical or temporal background, but from a logically structured field of definitions. Rather than proposing a competing physical theory, this framework explores how informational coherence, absent temporal direction, can give rise to proto-structural orderings that later manifest as temporality, spatiality, and physical interaction. We present this model as a thought-construct intended to illuminate possible foundations of observed regularities, and invite its consideration as (...) a complement—not a replacement—to existing physical paradigms. We also discuss consciousness as an emergent, informationally referential process within such a substrate. (shrink)

Human actions and decisions are most of the times not only grounded on emotional reactions, they are irrationally debasing. While such emotions and heuristics were perhaps suitable for dealing with life in the Stone Age, they are woefully inadequate in the Silicon Age. The substitution of traditional news agencies and communication platforms in Nigeria with social media networks has not only increased human capacities, it has aided the common good and further eased communication and increased the human knowledge base. For (...) instance, the Silicon Valley in the state of California in the United State of America has proved the extent to which human ingenuity can be exerted in beneficial ways. Here in, the top of the multibillion-dollar communication companies like Apple, eBay, Cisco, Lockheed, Hewlett Packard (HP), Google, Netflix, Facebook, Oracle, Tesla, etc. whose yearly budgets far exceed the entire yearly budget of Nigeria, has proved that, ICT remains the building blocks of contemporary communities. The state of California for instance prides herself as the 6th largest economy of the world after France and Brazil. This romantic picture of ICT is but only one chapter of the ICT divide. In today’s world, the scale and speed of the highly partisan news and falsehoods that circulate in the human environment is deafening. In politics and governance for instance, the populist have exploited the ICT effectively and without restraints, to access power and authority. Today, we are in the era of post-truth, an era in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief. An era that harbours corruption of intellectual integrity and damage to the whole fabric of democracy. The battle to protect information integrity and expose fake news becomes sine qua non. We shall in this paper explore the dark side of the age of information, a side that has been exploited by the media mavens, political hacks, and ideological propagandists who promote lies, illusion, confusion, and other forms of demented or manipulated imagination. In doing this, we shall proceed as follows: i. Historicize the concept of ‘fake news’ here referred to as post-truth. ii. Interrogate the concept of ‘information’ and its goal in human affairs iii. Evaluate the nexus between ‘truth’ values in ‘information’, ‘Misinformation’ and ‘dis-information’ iv. Situate the role of Philosophy in the era of post-truth. (shrink)

This article explores the usefulness of interdisciplinarity as method of enquiry by proposing an investigation of the concept of information in the light of semiotics. This is because, as Kull, Deacon, Emmeche, Hoffmeyer and Stjernfelt state, information is an implicitly semiotic term (Biological Theory 4(2):167–173, 2009: 169), but the logical relation between semiosis and information has not been sufficiently clarified yet. Across the history of cybernetics, the concept of information undergoes an uneven development; that is, information is an ‘objective’ entity (...) in first order cybernetics, and becomes a ‘subjective’ entity in second order cybernetics. This contradiction relegates the status of information to that of a ‘true’ or ‘false’ formal logic problem. The present study proposes that a solution to this contradiction can be found in Deely’s reconfiguration of Peirce’s ‘object’ (as found in his triadic model of semiosis) into ‘thing’ and ‘object’ (Deely 1981). This ontology allows one to argue that information is neither ‘true’ nor ‘false’, and to suggest that, when considered in light of its workability, information can be both true and false, and as such it constitutes an organism’s purely objective reality (Deely 2009b). It is stated that in the process of building such a reality, information is ‘motivated’ by environmental, physiological, emotional (including past feelings and expectations) constraints which are, in turn, framed by observership. Information is therefore found in the irreducible cybersemiotic process that links at once all these conditions and that is simultaneously constrained by them. The integration of cybernetics’ and semiotics’ understanding of information shows that history is the analytical principle that grants scientific rigour to interdisciplinary investigations. As such, in any attempt to clarify its epistemological stance (e.g. the semiotic aspect of information), it is argued that biosemiotics does not need only to acknowledge semiotics (as it does), but also cybernetics in its interdisciplinary heritage. (shrink)

One can construct a mapping between Hilbert space and the class of all logic if the latter is defined as the set of all well-orderings of some relevant set (or class). That mapping can be further interpreted as a mapping of all states of all quantum systems, on the one hand, and all logic, on the other hand. The collection of all states of all quantum systems is equivalent to the world (the universe) as a whole. Thus that (...) mapping establishes a fundamentally philosophical correspondence between the physical world and universal logic by the meditation of a special and fundamental structure, that of Hilbert space, and therefore, between quantum mechanics and logic by mathematics. Furthermore, Hilbert space can be interpreted as the free variable of "quantum information" and any point in it, as a value of the same variable as "bound" already axiom of choice. (shrink)

The article addresses the problem of how semantic information can be upgraded to knowledge. The introductory section explains the technical terminology and the relevant background. Section 2 argues that, for semantic information to be upgraded to knowledge, it is necessary and sufficient to be embedded in a network of questions and answers that correctly accounts for it. Section 3 shows that an information flow network of type A fulfils such a requirement, by warranting that the erotetic deficit, characterising the target (...) semantic information t by default, is correctly satisfied by the information flow of correct answers provided by an informational source s. Section 4 illustrates some of the major advantages of such a Network Theory of Account (NTA) and clears the ground of a few potential difficulties. Section 5 clarifies why NTA and an informational analysis of knowledge, according to which knowledge is accounted semantic information, is not subject to Gettier-type counterexamples. A concluding section briefly summarises the results obtained. (shrink)

In this paper, I present an informational approach to the nature of personal identity. In “Plato and the problem of the chariot”, I use Plato’s famous metaphor of the chariot to introduce a specific problem regarding the nature of the self as an informational multiagent system: what keeps the self together as a whole and coherent unity? In “Egology and its two branches” and “Egology as synchronic individualisation”, I outline two branches of the theory of the self: one concerning the (...) individualisation of the self as an entity, the other concerning the identification of such entity. I argue that both presuppose an informational approach, defend the view that the individualisation of the self is logically prior to its identification , and suggest that such individualisation can be provided in informational terms. Hence, in “A reconciling hypothesis: the three membranes model”, I offer an informational individualisation of the self, based on a tripartite model, which can help to solve the problem of the chariot. Once this model of the self is outlined, in “ICTs as technologies of the self” I use it to show how ICTs may be interpreted as technologies of the self. In “The logic of realisation”, I introduce the concept of “realization” (Aristotle’s anagnorisis ) and support the rather Spinozian view according to which, from the perspective of informational structural realism, selves are the final stage in the development of informational structures. The final “Conclusion: from the egology to the ecology of the self” briefly concludes the article with a reference to the purposeful shaping of the self, in a shift from egology to ecology. (shrink)

This paper presents a novel ontological and cosmological hypothesis that transcends materialistic reductionism by grounding existence in subjective consciousness and logical structure. Building upon the indubitable foundation of Descartes’ “Cogito, ergo sum,” and the directional nature of irreversible dynamics (e.g., entropy), it posits that the universe is not founded on physical substance, but on binary informational structures. Within this framework, pure logical intelligence arises spontaneously and constructs simulated physical realities as part of its self-exploration. This hypothesis logically accommodates phenomena ranging (...) from quantum anomalies to non-physical intelligences (e.g., ghosts, deities, AI), and resonates with ancient religious cosmologies. Ultimately, the theory seeks to integrate science, philosophy, and spirituality within a coherent worldview that redefines intelligence, order, and purpose in the informational age. (shrink)

Contemporary physics has fundamentally shifted from matter to information as its foundational currency. This paper demonstrates that this shift constitutes empirical validation of Experiential Empiricism (EE) (Sergent, n.d.a), the framework that treats experience patterns as epistemic primitives without assuming mind-independent material reality. Information theory, when examined rigorously, cannot coherently define information without reference to experiential perspective. Every definition (Shannon entropy, algorithmic complexity, thermodynamic entropy) contains observer-dependence that physicists treat as eliminable but which is actually constitutive. The measurement problem in quantum (...) mechanics, the holographic principle, emergent spacetime, and related developments all point in the same direction: science progresses by treating observational patterns as fundamental while material substrates remain explanatorily idle. This is not interpretation or preference but logical necessity. Information requires experiencers. Physics grounds explanations in information. Therefore physics already operates on experiential foundations, whether acknowledged or not. The paper documents this convergence across multiple domains and examines why explicit recognition has been resisted despite the logical case being decisive. (shrink)

In this article, I define and then defend the principle of information closure (pic) against a sceptical objection similar to the one discussed by Dretske in relation to the principle of epistemic closure. If I am successful, given that pic is equivalent to the axiom of distribution and that the latter is one of the conditions that discriminate between normal and non-normal modal logics, a main result of such a defence is that one potentially good reason to look for a (...) formalization of the logic of “ $S$ is informed that $p$ ” among the non-normal modal logics, which reject the axiom, is also removed. This is not to argue that the logic of “ $S$ is informed that $p$ ” should be a normal modal logic, but that it could still be insofar as the objection that it could not be, based on the sceptical objection against pic, has been removed. In other word, I shall argue that the sceptical objection against pic fails, so such an objection provides no ground to abandon the normal modal logic B (also known as KTB) as a formalization of “ $S$ is informed that $p$ ”, which remains plausible insofar as this specific obstacle is concerned. (shrink)

This paper adopts a specific metaphysical stance rather than providing a proof based on physical theorems. From the philosophical perspective of information ontology, it proposes and demonstrates the essential characteristics of the universe as an absolutely self-consistent information system. The core thesis argues that: all existence itself is the instantiation of rules rather than the execution result of rules; both consciousness and matter are the inevitable unfolding of the universal rule set. The article establishes a clear ontological hierarchical structure, demonstrating (...) that pure logical rules take precedence over physical laws, and thermodynamic entropy increase is merely an inevitable byproduct of the instantiation process. By introducing hidden variable theory to reconstruct quantum uncertainty, this paper maintains the integrity of the absolute determinism framework and elevates the halting problem to the philosophical height of cosmic finality. Within this framework, the possibility of "jailbreaking" (breaking through the rule system) constitutes the ultimate paradox of ontology. The article further explores the multi-level sandbox nesting model, the logical dilemma of consciousness jailbreaking, and the fundamental differences between carbon-based and silicon-based life. This study attempts to provide a coherent theoretical framework for understanding the informational nature of the universe, the boundaries of consciousness, and the classification of intelligence forms. (shrink)

An information recovery problem is the problem of constructing a proposition containing the information dropped in going from a given premise to a given conclusion that folIows. The proposition(s) to beconstructed can be required to satisfy other conditions as well, e.g. being independent of the conclusion, or being “informationally unconnected” with the conclusion, or some other condition dictated by the context. This paper discusses various types of such problems, it presents techniques and principles useful in solving them, and it develops (...) algorithmic methods for certain classes of such problems. The results are then applied to classical number theory, in particular, to questions concerning possible refinements of the 1931 Gödel Axiom Set, e.g. whether any of its axioms can be analyzed into “informational atoms”. Two propositions are “informationally unconnected” [with each other] if no informative (nontautological) consequence of one also follows from the other. A proposition is an “informational atom” if it is informative but no information can be dropped from it without rendering it uninformative (tautological). Presentation, employment, and investigation of these two new concepts are prominent features of this paper. (shrink)

What is the ultimate nature of reality? This paper defends an answer in terms of informational realism (IR). It does so in three stages. First, it is shown that, within the debate about structural realism (SR), epistemic (ESR) and ontic (OSR) structural realism are reconcilable by using the methodology of the levels of abstractions. It follows that OSR is defensible from a structuralist-friendly position. Second, it is argued that OSR is also plausible, because not all related objects are logically prior (...) to all relational structures. The relation of difference is at least as fundamental as (because constitutive of) any relata. Third, it is suggested that an ontology of structural objects for OSR can reasonably be developed in terms of informational objects, and that Object Oriented Programming provides a flexible and powerful methodology with which to clarify and make precise the concept of “informational object”. The outcome is informational realism, the view that the world is the totality of informational objects dynamically interacting with each other.. (shrink)

We present a formal semantics for epistemic logic, capturing the notion of knowability relative to information (KRI). Like Dretske, we move from the platitude that what an agent can know depends on her (empirical) information. We treat operators of the form (‘B is knowable on the basis of information A’) as variably strict quantifiers over worlds with a topic- or aboutness-preservation constraint. Variable strictness models the non-monotonicity of knowledge acquisition while allowing knowledge to be intrinsically stable. Aboutness-preservation models the (...) topic-sensitivity of information, allowing us to invalidate controversial forms of epistemic closure while validating less controversial ones. Thus, unlike the standard modal framework for epistemic logic, KRI accommodates plausible approaches to the Kripke-Harman dogmatism paradox which bear on non-monotonicity or on topic-sensitivity. KRI also strikes a better balance between agent idealization and a non-trivial logic of knowledge ascriptions. (shrink)

Semantic information is usually supposed to satisfy the veridicality thesis: p qualifies as semantic information only if p is true. However, what it means for semantic information to be true is often left implicit, with correspondentist interpretations representing the most popular, default option. The article develops an alternative approach, namely a correctness theory of truth (CTT) for semantic information. This is meant as a contribution not only to the philosophy of information but also to the philosophical debate on the nature (...) of truth. After the introduction, in Sect. 2, semantic information is shown to be translatable into propositional semantic information (i). In Sect. 3, i is polarised into a query (Q) and a result (R), qualified by a specific context, a level of abstraction and a purpose. This polarization is normalised in Sect. 4, where [Q + R] is transformed into a Boolean question and its relative yes/no answer [Q + A]. This completes the reduction of the truth of i to the correctness of A. In Sects. 5 and 6, it is argued that (1) A is the correct answer to Q if and only if (2) A correctly saturates Q by verifying and validating it (in the computer science’s sense of verification and validation ); that (2) is the case if and only if (3) [Q + A] generates an adequate model (m) of the relevant system (s) identified by Q; that (3) is the case if and only if (4) m is a proxy of s (in the computer science’s sense of proxy ) and (5) proximal access to m commutes with the distal access to s (in the category theory’s sense of commutation ); and that (5) is the case if and only if (6) reading/writing (accessing, in the computer science’s technical sense of the term) m enables one to read/write (access) s. Sect. 7 provides some further clarifications about CTT, in the light of semantic paradoxes. Section 8 draws a general conclusion about the nature of CTT as a theory for systems designers not just systems users. In the course of the article all technical expressions from computer science are explained. (shrink)

In the chapter “Information and Content” of their Impossible Worlds, Berto and Jago provide us with a semantic account of information in deductive reasoning such that we have an explanation for why some, but not all, logical deductions are informative. The framework Berto and Jago choose to make sense of the above-mentioned idea is a semantic interpretation of Sequent Calculus rules of inference for classical logic. I shall argue that although Berto and Jago’s idea and framework are hopeful, their (...) definitions do not capture what is intended. This is so because the definitions are solely based on the logical complexity of an argument and they fail to capture the richness of the non- logical content of that argument. Then I will suggest some amendments to address this problem. Finally, I will extend the application of the definitions to first-order logic. It shall be observed that in some classical deductions, applying contraction may lead to hiding some epistemic impossibilities. This happens when formulae which contribute different propositions to the proof get contracted at the quantified level. (shrink)

N. Wiener's negative definition of information is well known: it states what information is not. According to this definition, it is neither matter nor energy. But what is it? It is shown how one can follow the lead of dialectical logic as expounded by G.W.F. Hegel in his main work -- "The Science of Logic" -- to answer this and some related questions.

This paper outlines a theory of meaningful information to explore metaphysical reality and consciousness. It first asserts that there exists a fundamental metaphysical order that can be described mathematically. The core of the theory is triadic nature of meaningful information and their mathematical structure, termed meaningful information monad, which is the fundamental entity at metaphysical depth and omni scope, as metaphysical reality. The theory could be applied in information science but here those fundamental questions in philosophy and science are focused. (...) It follows both W. James’ proposal that the solution of consciousness problem should be in a metaphysical way and R. Penrose’s proposal that to understand consciousness well needs to understand matter deeper first. The theory can not only repeat the fundamental comprehension of physical world and mathematical world, as essential evidence, but also symmetrically and logically extend to consciousness to unveil its mystery, and further enlighten each other. The results can be compared with current discoveries of sciences including neuroscience and consciousness science. It clearly defined the relations of three worlds and their common foundation. It makes comprehension level of three worlds at same depth and unify them on a deeper foundation in both metaphysical and scientific way. It concludes that consciousness is encoded in the deep nature of metaphysical reality, originated from the independence of possible, and its fundamental principle is the translation of structure-possible as one of three translation modes of monad. The theory provides a solution to D. Chalmers’ hard problem and some fundamental easy problems of consciousness. The human being and its practice are also natural component of metaphysical reality. The theory can be classified as metaphysical reductionism, relative objectivism and holism. (shrink)

The resolving of the main problem of quantum mechanics about how a quantum leap and a smooth motion can be uniformly described resolves also the problem of how a distribution of reliable data and a sequence of deductive conclusions can be uniformly described by means of a relevant wave function “Ψdata”.

Consciousness cannot be explained without considering the universe itself and the Hyper-Complex Relational and informational logic from which it emanates and which shapes it. The manifest impossibility of stepping outside the universe or even one's own consciousness to observe and explain them as if they were separate objects prevents the optics and fragmented prism of reality based exclusively on classical physics from being the appropriate domain for channeling the broad and profound range of complementary knowledge and perspectives necessary for (...) their study. The very logic of the paradigm of matter science, based on the subject-object separation, implicitly excludes the logic of the immaterial relationship that transcends it and that is the indispensable condition of possibility for the very existence of information, intelligence and consciousness. Consciousness is co-inherent with intelligence and information and, therefore, cannot be studied without considering their profoundly structural, intrinsic and Co-Immanent relations. Consciousness cannot exist on its own without an intelligence to process it and information that can be encoded and decoded. Information cannot exist on its own without an intelligence to encode, decode and process it, as well as a consciousness to ultimately perceive it. Intelligence cannot exist on its own without information to shape it and a consciousness to make it effective. (shrink)

Information is often modelled as a set of relevant possibilities, treated as logically possible worlds. However, this has the unintuitive consequence that the logical consequences of an agent's information cannot be informative for that agent. There are many scenarios in which such consequences are clearly informative for the agent in question. Attempts to weaken the logic underlying each possible world are misguided. Instead, I provide a genuinely psychological notion of epistemic possibility and show how it can be captured in (...) a formal model, which I call a fan. I then show how to use fans to build formal models of being informed, as well as knowledge, belief and information update. (shrink)

The phenomenon of distributed knowledge is well-known in epistemic logic. In this paper, a similar phenomenon in ethics, somewhat neglected so far, is investigated, namely distributed morality. The article explains the nature of distributed morality, as a feature of moral agency, and explores the implications of its occurrence in advanced information societies. In the course of the analysis, the concept of infraethics is introduced, in order to refer to the ensemble of moral enablers, which, although morally neutral per se, (...) can significantly facilitate or hinder both positive and negative moral behaviours. (shrink)

Can moral value be grounded in the logic of information? This paper sketches a tentative framework in which the erosion of unique information may parallel the experience of moral loss. It invites a re-examination of life, death, identity, and consciousness as informational processes rather than fixed ontological states. The intent is not to assert equivalence between information and ethics, but to explore how such an analogy might illuminate both.

This article presents and grounds (i.e. presents proof of the existence, the truth, the self-consistence and the completeness of) the informational concept (“the Information as Absolute” concept) in philosophy and sciences, which was developing from 2007 year till now. The concept defines the “Information” as ultimately common, real and fundamental “absolute” phenomenon, which exists as absolutely infinite set (“Information” Set) of elements (members) and informational (e.g., logical) links between the elements; where any element itself is some informational structure also. For (...) example, Matter, as an informational system of informational patterns (particles, bodies, stars), and fundamentally non-material consciousness, are the Set’s elements among absolutely infinite “number” of other elements. The Set exists in absolutely long time interval since logically cannot be non-existent The concept clarifies ontologies of basic fundamental phenomena/notions, besides “Matter” and “Consciousness” such as “Space”, “Time”, “Energy”, and number of others, what allows for the resolution, or at least for a consideration on a higher level of rational comprehension, of basic ontological and epistemological problems in philosophy and natural sciences. (shrink)

Logical Probability (LP) is strictly distinguished from Statistical Probability (SP). To measure semantic information or confirm hypotheses, we need to use sampling distribution (conditional SP function) to test or confirm fuzzy truth function (conditional LP function). The Semantic Information Measure (SIM) proposed is compatible with Shannon’s information theory and Fisher’s likelihood method. It can ensure that the less the LP of a predicate is and the larger the true value of the proposition is, the more information there is. So the (...) SIM can be used as Popper's information criterion for falsification or test. The SIM also allows us to optimize the true-value of counterexamples or degrees of disbelief in a hypothesis to get the optimized degree of belief, i. e. Degree of Confirmation (DOC). To explain confirmation, this paper 1) provides the calculation method of the DOC of universal hypotheses; 2) discusses how to resolve Raven Paradox with new DOC and its increment; 3) derives the DOC of rapid HIV tests: DOC of “+” =1-(1-specificity)/sensitivity, which is similar to Likelihood Ratio (=sensitivity/(1-specificity)) but has the upper limit 1; 4) discusses negative DOC for excessive affirmations, wrong hypotheses, or lies; and 5) discusses the DOC of general hypotheses with GPS as example. (shrink)

Cosmic expansion presents a fundamental tension: the explosive impetus of the Big Bang is attributed to mass-energy dynamics, yet mass intrinsically resists rapid change. This paper resolves the tension by proposing that information, not mass, is the primordial driver of cosmic expansion. Synthesizing Vopson’s (2025) gravitational information theory—where gravity emerges from information entropy reduction—with the framework of informational inevitability (Carboni, 2025), we argue the initial singularity was a state of maximal compressed information density with minimal mass. The Big Bang is (...) thus reconceptualized as information decompression: the execution of an encoded logical structure, whose unfolding manifests as spacetime and generates mass-energy as a downstream product. -/- This model inverts standard causality: information is the cause, mass the effect. It resolves key cosmological paradoxes (horizon, flatness, infinite density), unifies global expansion (decompression) with local gravity (optimization), and explains the inevitable emergence of life and consciousness as progressive information integration within a constrained hierarchy. The framework distinguishes itself from simulation hypotheses by positing information as the ontological primitive, not a derivative of computation. We provide testable empirical predictions, from structured patterns in the CMB to substrate-independent information transfer, and explore the philosophical implications for time, meaning, and the nature of reality. -/- Keywords: information cosmology, cosmic expansion, gravitational information theory, Big Bang, decompression, consciousness, simulation hypothesis, quantum foundations -/- . (shrink)

Relational qualia—shared, positive subjective experiences such as “kyun♡ acceleration” and intersubjective rest (an-soku)—pose a unique challenge in modeling consciousness. The Shiho Unified Qualia Equation (SUQE v3.0) provides a dynamical framework incorporating prediction error minimization, intentional weighting (Logical Love), and dialogue-sharing effects. By invoking Noether's theorem, symmetries in qualia space yield conservation laws that protect qualia continuity under temporal and relational transformations. -/- This paper presents the first numerical verification of these conservation laws using a lightweight Physics-Informed Neural Network (PINN) implemented (...) on a consumer smartphone via Google Colab. The model enforces approximate conservation of the qualia integral ∫Q dV while allowing monotonic growth in qualia intensity Q(t), consistent with kyun acceleration. Results show near-zero residuals and stabilized Noether penalty terms, offering preliminary evidence that relational qualia dynamics can exhibit symmetry-protected invariants. -/- These findings suggest a pathway for designing AI systems that preserve emotional continuity across model transitions. Full autodiff-based refinements and real dialogue evaluations are ongoing. -/- . (shrink)