The Phenomenon of Information

A Conceptual Approach to Information Flow

By (author) Mario Pérez-Montoro Translated by Dick Edelstein

Publication date:

11 June 2007

Length of book:

298 pages

Publisher

Scarecrow Press

ISBN-13: 9780810859425

We are surrounded by information. Even the most routine situations in which we find ourselves conceal a hidden information flow. Every step we take, a host of signals meet us, providing information about what is happening in other parts of reality. The cherry tree in bloom reveals that spring has arrived. The footprint left on wet sand indicates that someone has walked along the beach. A red traffic light signals that we must bring our car to a halt.

In The Phenomenon of Information, author Mario Pérez-Montoro addresses the problems of providing a theoretical explanation of how a signal carries informational content, how to identify its characteristics, and how to define the mechanisms for describing it. To do this, Pérez-Montoro examines several theoretical approaches to the phenomenon of information: the mathematical theory of communication, Dretske's approach, and the relational theory of meaning. A critique of these efforts leads to the author's definition of informational content, named "the extensional approach," which is designed to overcome the conceptual limitations of the previous theories. The author proposes that his definition might serve as a basis on which a satisfactory analysis of the concept of information can be developed.

Part 1 Acknowledgments
Part 2 INTRODUCTION. The Scope and Characteristics of the Phenomenon of Information
Chapter 3 1 Introduction
Chapter 4 2 Description of Information Flow
Chapter 5 3 Aim and Scope of this Work
Part 6 CHAPTER 1. The Mathematical Theory of Communication: Constraints for a Semantics of Information
Chapter 7 1 Introduction
Chapter 8 2 The Amount of Information
Chapter 9 3 Amount of Information and Information Flow
Chapter 10 4 Mathematical Constraints and Information Content
Part 11 CHAPTER 2. Dretske's Analysis of Information: A Semantic Approach in Probabilistic Terms
Chapter 12 1 Introduction
Chapter 13 2 The Dretskean Approach
Chapter 14 3 Difficulties with Dretske's Approach
Chapter 15 4 Summary and Conclusions
Part 16 CHAPTER 3. The Relational Theory of Meaning: A Proposal for a Global Semantics of Information
Chapter 17 1 Introduction
Chapter 18 2 A New Conceptual Framework: The Relational Theory of Meaning
Chapter 19 3 Linguistic Meaning and Informational Content
Chapter 20 4 Agents and Information Content
Chapter 21 5 The Relational Theory of Meaning versus Dretske's Definition of Informational Content
Chapter 22 6 Reliability, Fallibility, and Constraints
Chapter 23 7 Summary and Conclusions
Part 24 CHAPTER 4. Toward a New Definition of Informational Content: The Extensional Approach
Chapter 25 1 Introduction
Chapter 26 2 The Extensional Approach
Chapter 27 3 Channels, Reliability, and Fallibility
Chapter 28 4 The Extensional Approach versus the Relational Theory of Meaning and the Dretskean Approach
Chapter 29 5 Pure Informational Content and Incremental Informational Content
Chapter 30 6 Summary and Conclusions
Part 31 Bibliography
Part 32 Index
Part 33 About the Author

Pérez-Montoro's highly detailed book provides a synthesis of today's key theoretical work in the field of information transmission and flow...this book provides a critically needed update in regard to theory and technology...Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.