ISKB34 Philosophy of Information

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
RNDr. Michal Černý, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Marek Timko, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
PhDr. Petr Škyřík, Ph.D.
Department of Information and Library Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Alice Lukavská
Supplier department: Department of Information and Library Studies – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites (in Czech)
TYP_STUDIA(B)
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 14 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The subject of the philosophy of information is to seek the most general answer to the question of the nature of information going beyond individual disciplines where the concept of information is being worked, and the attempt to use the methodology of information sciences to solve philosophical problems. The course will therefore focus primarily on seeking the most general definition of information and linking it to basic philosophical questions such as what is being, what is true, what is science, what is good, is human, what is human society, secondly, the analysis of individual philosophical problems using methods and concepts created in the field of information science (conceptual analysis, thought maps, entity-relational conceptual model, etc.). Learning outcomes of the course unit The aim of the course is to show a philosophical-reflexive approach to subjects such as Information Science, Information Ethics, Information, Communication and Thinking and many others, or, on the other hand, to bring the knowledge gained from these subjects into wider philosophical contexts.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this course the student will:
a) be able to analyze concepts and make connections between them;
b ) know the basic philosophical approaches to the concept of information;
c ) orientate in fundamental philosophical problems and their relationship to the questions of Information Science;
d ) keep philosophically oriented discussion on terms used in information science.
Syllabus
  • What is the philosophy
  • Philosophy of science
  • Philosophy of information
  • Information logic
  • Information epistemology
  • Information cosmology
  • Information ontology
  • Information anthropology
  • Information and mind - Artificial Intelligence
  • Information Ethics
  • Information aesthetics
  • Information society
Literature
    required literature
  • SOKOL, Jan. Malá filosofie člověka a Slovník filosofických pojmů. 6. rozš. vyd., (Ve Vyšehradu 4.). Praha: Vyšehrad, 2010, 363 s. Moderní myšlení. ISBN 978-807-4290-565.
    recommended literature
  • ČERNÝ, Michal. Fenomenologicko-pragmatistická interpretace hyperkonektivistického světa: k problémům filosofie informace. 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2020. 154 s. ISBN 978-80-210-9454-3.
  • FLORIDI, Luciano. The philosophy of information. First edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, xviii, 405. ISBN 9780199232390. info
  • GLEICK, James. Informace: historie. Teorie. Záplava. 1. vyd. Praha: Argo/Dokořán, 2013, 396 s. ISBN 978-80-7363-415-5.
  • HAEFNER, Klaus a Wolfgang HOFKIRCHNER. The quest for a unified theory of information: proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Foundations of Information Science. Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach Publishers, 1999. xxxiii, 59. ISBN 90-5700-53
  • KROB, Josef. Gnoseologie: od tradičních otázek k evoluční gnoseologii. 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova universita, 2006, 155 s. ISBN 8021039949.
  • RŮŽIČKA, Michal. Informace a dobro. Vyd. 1. Praha: Ježek, 1993, 82 s. ISBN 8090162525.
  • STODOLA, Jiří. Informace, komunikace a bytí : fragment realistické informační vědy (Information, communication and being : a fragment of realistic information science). 1st ed. Brno: Jiří Stodola, 2010, 146 pp. s.n. ISBN 978-80-254-7996-4. info
  • STODOLA, Jiří. Filosofie informace - metateoretická analýza pojmu informace a hlavních paradigmat informační vědy (Philosophy of information - a metatheoretical analysis of the concept of information and main paradigms of information science). Vydání první. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2015, 191 pp. Spisy Filozofické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity = Opera Facultatis philosophicae Universitatis Masarykianae, ISSN 1211-3034 ; 437. ISBN 978-80-210-8011-9. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CZ.MUNI.M210-8011-2015. Digitální knihovna FF MU info
  • STONIER, Tom. Informace a vnitřní struktura vesmíru. 1. vyd. Praha: BEN, 2002, 160 s. ISBN 80-7300-050-4.
  • ŠMAJS, Josef. Ohrožená kultura : od evoluční ontologie k ekologické politice. Edited by Erazim Kohák. 3. upr. a rozš. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2011, 269 s. ISBN 9788021054257. info
  • ČERNÝ, Michal. Informace jako antropologický fenomén (Information as anthropological phenomenon). Brno: Flow, 2015, 99 pp. ISBN 978-80-88123-08-8. info
    not specified
  • FLORIDI, Luciano (ed.). The Blackwell guide to the philosophy of computing and information. John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
  • FLORIDI, Luciano. The fourth revolution: How the infosphere is reshaping human reality. OUP Oxford, 2014.
  • FLORIDI, Luciano. The logic of information. Oxford University Press, 2019.
  • FLORIDI, Luciano. The ethics of information. Oxford University Press, 2013.
Teaching methods
The course will be conducted through lectures of three teachers whose views on philosophical questions sometimes differ (eg the primacy of epistemology before ontology, the fundamental philosophical category of substance, etc.). Teachers will present their concepts of selected problems and then discussion will take place between them and the students.
Assessment methods
75% attendance at lectures and active participation in the discussion (for distant students, there is the possibility of two debates over issues 1-6 and 7-12, which demonstrate an understanding of the theme and reflection on their own themes).
Essay and debate over it.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/ISKB34