article: individual knowers & community

Capurro, Rafael. “Hermeneutics and the Phenomenon of Information.” Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Technology. Ed. Carl Mitcham. Vol. 19. Research in Philosophy and Technology: JAI/Elsevier Inc., 2000.

The paper starts with a basic question: “What is information?”

It follows with an answer: “Some characteristics of the end of modernity are:
(a) abandonment of the primacy of rational or scientific thought as qualitatively superior to all other types of discourse
(b) abandonment of the idea of human subjectivity as opposed to objectivity, in which intersubjectivity and contextuality play only minor roles
(c) abandonment of the (Platonic) idea of human knowledge as something separate from the knower.”

This discussion pretty much fits with my understanding of the state of postmodern epistemology.

The author discusses “fragmented knowledge,” which is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately… particularly in terms of search. It’s possible to use Google to find spellings, addresses, definitions, and other quick information without ever leaving the google page to see the site where the information resides. What does this decontextualization mean for the information seeker? Does one implicitly trust all websites because Google just finds them? How does fragmented knowledge impact people’s ability to have complex thoughts?

Another area I found particularly interesting was the discussion of knowers within the context of their individual communities. This individual community member interacts with the bibliographic database creator or web designer, even though the creator or designer may belong to an entirely different community. Does this even matter in an era when culture is becoming more homogonous?

Anyway, it was an interesting and short article!