Contribution to the Ontological Status of Information: Development of the Structural-Attributive Approach

Abstract

This paper proposes to appeal to the structural-attributive approach to help establish a useful ontological categorization of information. Specifically, it argues that a framework for library and information science (LIS) based on Stonier's theory of information would be helpful, with the intention to advance one of the unfinished dialogues of LIS, the so-called Wiener's problem, or statutum ontologicum. This proposal advocates the possibility of developing a theory based on the assumption that information is a basic property of the universe. Stonier's perspective is an evolutionary type, so the basis of this research is interdisciplinary, such that his ideas can help describe the development of society in the information age. It also explains the two main categories or forms of information, which Stonier called "applied," for the library scope. In other words, there are the information contained in a system and the transformed and processed information. He argues that information is an ontological category that exists independently of being perceived. This paper asserts that information characterizes the world in itself, since it is through it that all knowledge is obtained.

Still Minding the Gap? Reflecting on Transitions between Concepts of Information in Varied Domains

“…The approaches of Burgin, and of Brenner and Wu, have been more developed towards links with the physical sciences. There has been little uptake, or comparison, of these frameworks within other disciplines, although Morán-Reyes has given a comparison, albeit limited in detail, of the theories of Stonier, Burgin, and Floridi, from the perspective of LIS [97].…”

“…Stonier's views have been highly influential, and his books have together been cited over 1000 times. Morán-Reyes suggests that a framework for LIS could be developed based on Stonier's theory of information, but does not set this idea out in detail [97]. It is fair to say that there has been little explicit development of Stonier's specific proposal, and that his work is held up, rather, as an early example of a unified gap-bridging theory of information.…”