Parallax ontology and the philosophy of information

Compton, Bradley W.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/89813 Copy

Description

Title

Parallax ontology and the philosophy of information

Author(s)

Compton, Bradley W.

Issue Date

2015

Keyword(s)

• Philosophies of Information
• Information Science
• Librarianship
• Libraries

Abstract

This paper discusses differing perspectives relevant to library and information studies (LIS) regarding the philosophy of information, primarily disparate accounts of ontology. The perspectives include, but are not limited to, those of Luciano Floridi, Raphael Capurro, Michael Eldred, applied ontologists like Pierre Grenon and Barry Smith, Fred Fonseca, and Bernd Frohmann. Slavoj Žižek’s parallax ontology is used as a leitmotif and theoretical frame to provide a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of differing standpoints on ontological issues within LIS and the philosophy of information. Parallax ontology is presented not as a replacement for any particular perspective but rather as a means to utilize the differing points of view. The antinomies within and between these perspectives are not overcome through some kind of synthesis but instead disclose the fundamentally irreconcilable nature of the topic of ontology itself, particularly within LIS and the philosophy of information. The paper concludes with an assessment of the importance of this type of research, and the topics of ontology and the philosophy of information in particular.

Publisher

Johns Hopkins University Press and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

ISSN

0024-2594

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/89813

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2015.0001

Copyright and License Information

Copyright (2014) Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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