Event Timeslots (1)
Thursday
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This course is taught en bloc. For dates and times, please see the entry on eCampus. Information takes a central role in our everyday lives. Thus, it is perhaps surprising that the concept of information has only recently started to receive broader philosophical attention. This seminar gives an introduction to this emerging topic, focusing on semantic information. The latter is information about the world that is meaningful and that can constitute knowledge. We will start by distinguishing information from some of its cognate concepts (incl. data, meaning, representation), by asking how data can turn into information, and how meaningful data acquire a truth value. In the second half of the semester, we will discuss different approaches to semantic information. We will end the semester by discussing the role of information in some philosophical disciplines (esp. epistemology, philosophy of mind/cognitive science, and philosophy of language), and by asking whether all semantic information is propositional.
*Readings:* A selection of texts will be made available through Moodle before the start of the semester. This selection will include (a.o.):
-- Dretske, F. I. (1983). Précis of Knowledge and the Flow of Information. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 6(1), 55-90.
-- Floridi, L. (2010). Information: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
-- Floridi, L. (2011). The Philosophy of Information. Oxford University Press.
*Prüfungsform:*
-- kleine Studienleistung: Protokoll (mit Kurzpräsentation)
-- große Studienleistung: Protokoll plus Klausur, mündliche Prüfung oder Hausarbeit