Abstract
Does information exist in the world independently of brains and/or organisms that can interpret it? Answering this question is important for clarifying the theoretical foundations of the sciences of mind and brain. This chapter claims that Popperian objectivity-properly modified-is sufficient for the explanatory role that information often plays in these sciences without endorsing a problematic mind-independent notion of information. There exists, however, a tension between two Popperian views about objectivity: intersubjective agreement and World 3. In order to ground the objectivity of information-as it is used in the sciences of mind and brain, the relation between Popperian intersubjectivity and World 3 objectivity is examined in this chapter. The conclusion is that mind-dependent information can be objective when it is intersubjectively agreed upon, or, to put it differently, when "actualised" information in World 3 stands in the right relation to World 1.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Karl Popper's Science and Philosophy |
| Editors | David Merritt, Zuzana Parusniková |
| Publisher | Springer International Publishing |
| Pages | 345-359 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9783030670368 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9783030670351 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 19 Jul 2021 |
Keywords
- Cognition
- Function
- Information
- Intersubjectivity
- Receiver
- World 3
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Physics and Astronomy
- General Arts and Humanities