A unified theory as backbone for the study of information
A science of information as a single integrated transdiscipline cannot be reduced to a unified, or general, theory of information. But it can take advantage of such a theory that can form its backbone.
Science is more than theory that provides a provisional model of the object of study; it may include frames of empirical researches and logical and mathematical approaches as well, and it may include design tasks in a technological perspective. But without theory that instructs the frames and allows the implementation of findings science would not be at its best to say the least.
On 11 December 2019, Wolfgang Hofkirchner held a guest lecture that was part of the Colloquium of Information Science at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany. In this lecture he presented Capurro’s Trilemma regarding the accounts of information, his Unified Theory of Information (UTI) in a nutshell, two examples of applying UTI to cases under dispute (man-machine comparisons and evolution of humanity), and the place of a UTI-based Science of Information in the “tree” of disciplines. The lecture was in German (the slides in English though). It was attended by students and alumni.
Link to monograph Emergent Information
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