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The Philosophy of Information: Ethical, Ontological and Epistemic Perspectives

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The Philosophy of Information: Ethical, Ontological and Epistemic Perspectives The Philosophy of Information: Ethical, Ontological and Epistemic Perspectives. Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy By Steven Tyrrell McKinlay August 2013 Thesis advisors Prof. John Weckert and Dr. Morgan Luck Charles Sturt University, NSW, Australia Contents Certificate of Authorship .......................................................................... 5 Acknowledgements .................................................................................. 6 Abstract .................................................................................................... 8 1 Introduction ..................................................................................... 9 1.1 Chapter Summaries ........................................................................................ 12 2 What is Philosophy of Information? ............................................. 18 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 18 2.2 Information and Computing Ethics ................................................................ 23 2.2.1 Privacy and Anonymity ......................................................................... 27 2.2.2 Cybercrime and Security ....................................................................... 30 2.2.3 Accuracy ................................................................................................ 31 2.2.4 Property ................................................................................................. 32 2.2.5 Access and Equity ................................................................................. 32 2.2.6 Freedom of Expression and Content Control......................................... 34 2.2.7 In Summary ........................................................................................... 35 2.3 The Uniqueness Debate .................................................................................. 36 2.4 Floridian Information Ethics .......................................................................... 40 2.5 Regarding the Intrinsic Value of Information Objects ................................... 46 2.6 Ontological Issues .......................................................................................... 53 2.6.1 Concerning identity. .............................................................................. 54 2.6.2 Concerning reference. ............................................................................ 55 2.6.3 Concerning other modalities. ................................................................. 55 2.7 Levelism – The Method of Levels of Abstraction .......................................... 56 2.8 Food for Thought: Absences and Information............................................... 59 3 The Floridian Notion of the Information Object ........................... 61 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 61 3.2 The Properties of Object Oriented Objects ..................................................... 67 3.3 Floridi’s Object Conception ........................................................................... 71 2 3.4 Abstract Objects and their Problems .............................................................. 79 3.5 Natural Entities, Artifacts and Technology .................................................... 82 3.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 86 4 Informational Realism and Metaphysics ....................................... 89 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 89 4.2 Structuralism as a starting point ..................................................................... 92 4.3 Informational Objects, Universals and Bearers. ............................................. 96 4.4 Identity ......................................................................................................... 102 4.5 Imaginary, Possible and Probable Informational Objects ............................ 105 4.6 Conclusions .................................................................................................. 108 5 Explanation, Causality and Information ...................................... 110 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 110 5.2 Early informational accounts ........................................................................ 113 5.3 Railton’s Informational Approach ................................................................ 122 5.4 Absences....................................................................................................... 130 5.5 Food for Thought: Informational Objects Supervene on Causes.................. 136 5.6 Conclusions. ................................................................................................. 138 6 Information, Knowledge and Confirmation Holism ................... 140 6.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 140 6.2 Gareth Evans and “Russell’s Principle” ....................................................... 145 6.3 Can Information and Knowledge be Coextensive? ...................................... 149 6.4 Confirmation Holism .................................................................................... 154 6.5 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 156 7 Information Ethics and Entropy .................................................. 157 7.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 157 7.2 Information Ethics in Short .......................................................................... 159 7.3 Previous Important Objections ..................................................................... 164 7.4 Present Issues ............................................................................................... 169 7.5 Entropy ......................................................................................................... 172 7.6 Informational Entropy – Ver 2.0 .................................................................. 178 7.7 Solving the Entropy Problem in IE .............................................................. 185 3 7.8 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 192 8 Summary ..................................................................................... 195 8.1 The Last Word .............................................................................................. 205 9 References ................................................................................... 208 4 Certificate of Authorship I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at Charles Sturt University or any other educational institution, except where acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by colleagues with whom I have worked with at Charles Sturt University or elsewhere during my candidature is fully acknowledged. I agree that this thesis be accessible for the purpose of study and research in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Executive Director, Library Services or nominee, for the care, loan and reproduction of theses. Signed Steven Tyrrell McKinlay Date 5 Acknowledgements A very warm thank you goes to my principle supervisor, Professor John Weckert. I’ve very much enjoyed working with John, there is no doubt at all that John’s encouragement and good humour, not to mention sound advice, guidance and ideas, carried me to the end. Thank you for everything John. Thank you to Dr Morgan Luck, my co-supervisor who also provided so many inspirational and thought provoking comments to my work. The three intense days in Canberra with John and Morgan, working through a draft of this thesis were indeed memorable. I thank you both very much for the time and interest you took in my work. I’d like to formally thank the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE) for funding the first couple of years of this project. Without the initial support from CAPPE it would never have got off the ground. I also thank Charles Sturt University for the generous research scholarship that enabled me to complete the work. Thank you to Dr Stephen Clarke who was also involved in a supervisory role in the early years. I had a memorable meeting with Stephen and Luciano Floridi at Oxford in 2007 after an E-CAP conference in Sweden. Of course I am deeply indebted to Luciano, not only for providing material which continues to stimulate my interest but also for taking an interest very early on in my work and always encouraging me to continue. I thank my employer Wellington Institute of Technology for supporting my research, providing time and also generously funding my attendance at various international conferences over the years of my study. A special thank you to my collegue, Mariki Farrell, who very generously proof read this thesis.
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