Colophon
The Information Philosopher is also an experiment in publishing information. It is philosophy in the age of information. More specifically, it is philosophy in the time of Google and Wikipedia, of the Stanford and Routledge Encyclopedias of philosophy, of desktop and web publishing, and of Amazon.com, which has made it possible for us to assemble a working library of all the great philosophers, in their original languages.
For over two millenia, the principal method of disseminating knowledge has been the written or printed page. Before writing, the oral tradition of encoding knowledge into songs and long narratives worked well to transmit cultural knowledge, but it was seriously error prone. Writing and printing also have transcription errors, but they set the standard for liberating information (our
Sum) from any particular place and time.
In the early twentieth century, mechanical typewriters replaced the pen as the principal method of creating texts. In the late twentieth, computers took over and allowed information to be transmitted electronically over digital networks.
As part of the "great conversation" of thinkers from all places and times, the Information Philosopher is created online, stored in a database repository, and primarily delivered in an online electronic form. Part or all of it can be printed out as desired and it will be available in published book form from time to time.
To facilitate delivery through other publishing channels like mobile devices or reading machines for the blind, the content of Information Philosopher is stored as small structured "chunks" of reusable information. These chunks are the smallest amounts of meaningful content that can be reused in multiple contexts, including translation into multiple languages. The chunks can be rearranged in "information maps" for different purposes.
This website version of Information Philosopher has seven parts, each with multiple chapters. Navigation at the bottom of each page will take you to the next or previous part or chapter.
A web page may contain two extra levels of material. The normal page is material for newcomers and students of the Information Philosophy. Two normally hidden levels contain material for teachers (e.g., secondary sources) and for scholars (e.g., footnotes, original language quotations). To see the extra material, click on the Teacher or Scholar links in the page footer.
For Teachers
To hide this material, click on the Normal link.
Teacher materials on a page will typically include references to secondary sources and more extended explanations of the concepts and arguments. Secondary sources will include books, articles, and online resources. Extended explanations should be more suitable for teaching others about the core philosophical ideas, as seen from an information perspective.
For Scholars
To hide this material, click on the Teacher or Normal link.
Scholar materials will generally include more primary sources, more in-depth technical and scientific discussions where appropriate, and original language versions of quotations.
All footnotes for a page will appear in the Scholar materials. The footnote indicators themselves will only be visible in Scholar mode.
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