Meaning, truth, and information: prolegomena to a theory

– This paper aims to examine the relationships between meaning and truth as they may contribute to a constitutive definition of information. The thesis is primarily that “information” cannot be defined unless within the context of meaning and truth, and that any theory based on, or related to, information is not possible without the foundational definition., – A review of related literatures and an arrangement of frameworks forms the design of this conceptual proposal., – While other definitions of information have been presented, the present one integrates meaning and truth in ways that others do not. The thoroughgoing semantic examination provides a starting‐point for a much deeper analysis of the integral role that language plays in the formation of any theory related to information. Truth tends not to be spoken of a great deal in information science; the definitional positioning of truth adds to a more complete definition and basis for theory., – This paper proposes a new definitional and theoretical construct for information.

[1]  Ian Cornelius,et al.  Theorizing information for information science , 2005, Annu. Rev. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[2]  J. Habermas,et al.  On the Pragmatics of Communication , 1998 .

[3]  C. Prado.  Searle and Foucault on truth , 2005 .

[4]  T. D. Wilson,et al.  Review of: Kuhlthau, Carol Collier. Seeking meaning: a process approach to library and information services. 2nd. ed. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2004 , 2004, Inf. Res..

[5]  J. Thompson.  Ideology and Modern Culture , 1991 .

[6]  Richard Rorty,et al.  Philosophy as Cultural Politics , 2007 .

[7]  D. Davidson,et al.  The Folly of Trying to Define Truth , 1996, The Nature of Truth.

[8]  Robert V. Labaree,et al.  The Philosophical Problem of Truth in Librarianship1 , 2008, The Library Quarterly.

[9]  Barbara Abbott,et al.  APPLIED LINGUISTICS , 2005, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[10]  William James,et al.  The Meaning of Truth , 1909 .

[11]  R. Montague,et al.  The Semantic Conception of Truth and the Foundations of Semantics , 1996 .

[12]  Jürgen Habermas,et al.  Truth and Justification , 2003 .

[13]  Forbes Gibb,et al.  Meaning in philosophy and meaning in information retrieval (IR) , 2009, J. Documentation.

[14]  Marian David,et al.  Truth: A Primer , 1995 .

[15]  Anandi Hattiangadi.  Is Meaning Normative , 2006 .

[16]  B. C. Brookes.  ROBERT FAIRTHORNE AND THE SCOPE OF INFORMATION SCIENCE , 1974 .

[17]  Yair Neuman,et al.  A theory of meaning , 2006, Inf. Sci..

[18]  Michael K. Buckland,et al.  Information as thing , 1991, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[19]  Gregory Bateson,et al.  Mind and Nature. A Necessary Unity. Toronto (Bantam) 1979. , 1979 .

[20]  D. Davidson.  Inquiries Into Truth and Interpretation , 1984 .

[21]  Willard Van Orman Quine,et al.  From a Logical Point of View , 1955 .

[22]  Les Reid,et al.  Truth and Progress , 2000 .

[23]  A. Goldman.  Knowledge in a Social World , 1999 .

[24]  John M. Budd,et al.  Revisiting the importance of cognition in information science , 2011, J. Inf. Sci..

[25]  David Bawden,et al.  Organised complexity, meaning and understanding: An approach to a unified view of information for information science , 2007, Aslib Proc..

[26]  S. Toulmin.  Return to Reason , 2001 .

[27]  S. Pinker.  The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature , 2007 .

[28]  James H. Moor,et al.  Knowledge and the Flow of Information. , 1982 .

[29]  Jennifer Rowley,et al.  What is information , 1998 .

[30]  William P. Alston,et al.  Knowledge and the Flow of Information , 1985 .

[31]  D. Sperber,et al.  Relevance: Communication and Cognition , 1989 .

[32]  L. Goodman.  In Defense of Truth: A Pluralistic Approach , 2001 .

[33]  John R. Searle.  Consciousness and Language , 2002 .

[34]  G. Bateson,et al.  Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity , 1979 .

[35]  Susan Dunman,et al.  Seeking meaning: A process approach to library and information services , 1996 .

[36]  Marcia J. Bates,et al.  Fundamental forms of information , 2006, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[37]  Michael Dummett.  Truth and the Past , 2003 .

[38]  Peter van Inwagen,et al.  Ontology, Identity, and Modality: Essays in Metaphysics , 2001 .

[39]  Birger Hjørland,et al.  The concept of information , 2005, Annu. Rev. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[40]  Wayne C. Booth,et al.  The Rhetoric of Rhetoric: The Quest for Effective Communication , 2004 .

[41]  S. Blackburn,et al.  Truth: A Guide , 2005 .

[42]  G. G. Scarrott.  The Nature of Information , 1989, Comput. J..

[43]  R. Chisholm.  A Realistic Theory of Categories: An Essay on Ontology , 1998 .

[44]  Simon Blackburn,et al.  Spreading the word : groundings in the philosophy of language , 1987 .

[45]  H. Putnam.  Representation and Reality , 1993 .

[46]  John Lyons,et al.  Linguistic Semantics: An Introduction , 1995 .

[47]  P. Bourdieu,et al.  Language and Symbolic Power , 1991 .

[48]  David Bawden,et al.  What kind of resource is information , 1991 .

[49]  Carol Collier Kuhlthau,et al.  Seeking Meaning: a process approach to library and information services" Ablex Publishing , 2003 .

[50]  Robert M. Losee,et al.  A Discipline Independent Definition of Information , 1997, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[51]  C. Sunstein.  On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done , 2009 .

[52]  R. Rorty,et al.  Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. , 1980 .

[53]  John M. Budd,et al.  Phenomenology and information studies , 2005, J. Documentation.

[54]  R. Bhaskar.  Dialectic: The Pulse of Freedom , 1993 .