Information and the History of Philosophy

In recent years the philosophy of information has emerged as an important area of research in philosophy. However, until now information’s philosophical history has been largely overlooked.

Information and the History of Philosophy is the first comprehensive investigation of the history of philosophical questions around information, including work from before the Common Era to the twenty-first century. It covers scientific and technology-centred notions of information, views of human information processing, as well as socio-political topics such as the control and use of information in societies.

Organised into five parts, 19 chapters by an international team of contributors cover the following topics and more:

• Information before 500 CE, including ancient Chinese, Greek and Roman approaches to information;
• Early theories of information processing, sources of information and cognition;
• Information and computation in Leibniz, visualised scientific information, copyright and social reform;
• The nineteenth century, including biological information, knowledge economies and information’s role in empire and eugenics;
• Recent and contemporary philosophy of information, including racialised information, Shannon information and the very idea of an information revolution.

Information and the History of Philosophy is a landmark publication in this emerging field. As such, it is essential reading for students and researchers in the history of philosophy, philosophy of science and technology, and library and information studies. It is also a valuable resource for those working in subjects such as the history of science, media and communication studies and intellectual history.