Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T23:28:47.108Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Précis of Knowledge and the Flow of Information

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2010

Fred I. Dretske
Fred I. Dretske
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WisC. 53706
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A theory of information is developed in which the informational content of a signal (structure, event) can be specified. This content is expressed by a sentence describing the condition at a source on which the properties of a signal depend in some lawful way. Information, as so defined, though perfectly objective, has the kind of semantic property (intentionality) that seems to be needed for an analysis of cognition. Perceptual knowledge is an information-dependent internal state with a content corresponding to the information producing it. This picture of knowledge captures most of what makes knowledge an important cpistcmological notion. It also avoids many of the problems infecting traditional justificational accounts of knowledge (knowledge as [justified, true belief’). Our information pickup systems are characterized in terms of the way they encode incoming information (perception) for further cognitive processing. Our perceptual experience is distinguished from our perceptual beliefs by the different way sensory information is encoded in these internal structures. Our ropositional attitudes – those (unlike knowledge) having a content that can be either true or false (e.g., belief) – are described in terms of the way internal (presumably neural) structures acquire during learning a certain information-carrying role. The content of these structures (whether true or false) is identified with the kind of information they were developed to carry

Keywords

beliefcognitionconceptinformationintentionalityknowledgemeaningperceptionrepresentationsemantics
Type
Target Article
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , March 1983 , pp. 55 - 63
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Armstrong, D. M. (1968) A materialist theory of the mind. Routledge & Kegan Paul. [DMAI]Google Scholar
(1973) Belief, truth and knowledge. Cambridge University Press. [DMA, ta FlD]Google Scholar
Attneave, F. (1959) Applications of information theory to psychology: A summarsy of basic concepts, methods and results. Henry Holt. [ta FID, IJG]Google Scholar
Averbach, E. & Conch, A. S. (1961) Short-term memory in vision. Bell System Technical journal 40:309–28. [ta FID]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bar-Hillel, Y. (1964) Language and information. Addison-Wesley. [ta FID]Google Scholar
Barwise, J. (1981) Scenes and other situations. journal of Philosophy 78:369–97. [JB]Google Scholar
Berlyne, D. E. (1972) Aesthetics and psychobiology. Appleton. [RNH]Google Scholar
Carnap, R. (1971) A basic system of inductive logic, part 1. Inductive logic and probability, vol. 1, ed. Carnap, B. & Jeffrey, R.. University of California. [KL]Google Scholar
Cherry, E. C. (1951) A history of the theory of information. Proceedings of the Institute of Electrical Engineers 98:383–93. [ta FID]Google Scholar
Churchland, P. M. (1979) Scientific realism and the plasticity of mind. Cambridge University Press. [PMCCrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1982) Functionalism, qualia, and intentionality. Philosophical Topics 12 (no. 1):121–45. [PMC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Churchland, P. S. (1983) Stalking the wild epistemic engine. Nous, In press. [PMC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dennett, D. (1969) Content and consciousness. Routleclge & Kegan Paul. [ta FlD]Google Scholar
Dretske, F. (1969) Seeing and knowing. University of Chicago Press. [ta FlD]Google Scholar
Dretske, F. (1970) Epistemic operators. journal of Philosophy 67:1007–23. [ta Fb]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dretske, F. (1971) Conclusive reasons. Australasian journal of Philosophy 49:1–22. [ta FID]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dretske, F. (1977) The laws of nature. Philosophy of Science 44: 248–68. [ta FlD]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1981) Knowledge and the flow of information. MIT Press/Bradtbrd Books.Google Scholar
Erman, L. D. & Lesser, v. B. (1980) The HEARSAY-Il speech understanding system: A tutorial. In: Trends itt Speech Recognition, ed. Wayne, A. Lea, pp. 361–81. Prentice-Hall. [MAA]Google Scholar
Field, H. (1977) Logic, meaning, and conceptual role, journal of Philosophy 74:379–409. [PMC]Google Scholar
Fodor, J. (1980) Methodological solipsism considered as a research strategy in cognitive psyclsology. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3:63–110. [PMC, ta FID]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garner, W. B. (1962) Uncertainty and structure as psychological concepts. Wiley. [tar FID, BNH]Google Scholar
Gettier, E. (1963) Is justified true belief knowledge? Analysis 23:121–23. [ta FID, CC, EL]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibson, J. (1950) The perception of the visual world. Houghton Mifihin. [ta FID]Google Scholar
(1966) The senses considered as perceptual systems. Houghton Miffluti. [ta FID]Google Scholar
(1979) The ecological approach to visual perception. Houghton Muffin. [RJB, ta FID]Google Scholar
Goldman, A. (1976) Discrimination and perceptual knowledge. Journal of Philosophy 73:771-91. [WPA, ta FID]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Good, I. J. (1950) Probability and the weighing of evidence. Hafisers. [IJC]Google Scholar
(1957) The approximate and mathematical tools for describing aisd measuring uncertainty. In: Uncertainty and business decisions, ed. Carter, C. F., Meredith, C. P. & Shackle, C. L. S., pp. 20–36. Liverpool University Press. [IJC]Google Scholar
Good, I. J. (1959) Could a machine make probability judgments? Computers and Automation 8:14–16, 24–26. (Now Computers and People) [lJC]Google Scholar
Good, I. J. (1965) Speculations concernilsg tlse first ultra-intelligent machine. Advances in Computers 6:31–88. [IJC]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Good, I. J. (1966) A derivation of the probabilistic explication of information, journal of the Royal Statistical Society B 28:578–81. [IJG]Google Scholar
Good, I. J. (1977) Dynamic probability, computer chess, amsd the ineasurenient of knowledge. In: Machine intelligence 8, ed. Ellcock, E. W. & Miclsie, D., PP 139–50. John Wiley & Sons. [IJC]Google Scholar
Haber, L. R. (1975) The muzzy theory. In: The Proceedings and papers of the 11th annual meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society, ed. Grossman, R., pp. 240–56. University of Chicago Press. [RNH]Google Scholar
Haber, L. R. (1976) Leaped and leapt: A theoretical account of linguistic variation. Foundation of Language 14: 211–38. [RNH]Google Scholar
Haber, H. N., ed. (1969) Information processing approaches to visual perception. Holt, Rinehart & Vinston. [ta FID]Google Scholar
(1974) Information processing. In: Handbook of perception. vol. 1.historical and philosophical roots of perception, ed. Carterette, E. C. & Friedman, M. P., pp. 313–33. Academic Press. [RNH]Google Scholar
Haber, R. N. & Hershenson, M. (1973) The psychology of visual perception. Holt, Rinehart & Vinston. [ta FID]Google Scholar
Harman, C. (1975) Meaning and semantics. In: Semantics and philosophy, ed. Munitz, M. & Unger, P., pp. 11–16. New York University Press. [PM]Google Scholar
Hartley, H. V. L. (1928) Transmission of information. Bell System Technical Journal 7:535–63. [KMS]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoyt, W. C. (1980) Planets X and Pluto. University of Arizona Press. [MAA]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kyburg, H. (1961) Probability and the logic of rational belief. Wesleyan University Press. [ta FID, HEK]Google Scholar
Kyburg, H. (1965) Probability, rationality, and the rule of detaclsmeiet. Proceedings of the 1964 International Congress for Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science. North-Holland. [MAA, ta FID, HEK]Google Scholar
Lehrer, K. (1970) Justification, explanation, and induction. In: Induction, acceptance, and rational belief. ed. Swain, M.. Dordreclst: Heidel. [KL]Google Scholar
Levi, I. (1965) Deductive cogency in inductive inference. Journal of Philosophy 62:68–77. [IL]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1967 a) Gambling with truth. Knopf. [IL]Google Scholar
(1967 b) Information and inference. Synthèse 17:369–91. [IL]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1980) The enterprise of knowledge. MIT Press. [IL]Google Scholar
Lewis, D. (1979) Connterfactual dependence and time's arrow. Nous 13:455–76. [BL]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindsay, P. H. & Norman, D. A. (1972) human information processing. Academic Press. [ta FID]Google Scholar
Loewer, B. (1982) Review of Knowledge and the flow of information. Philosophy of Science 49:297–300. [PS]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacKay, D. M. (1969) Information, mechanism and meaning. MIT Press. [ta FID]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michie, D. (1977) A theory of advice. In: Machine intelligence 8, ed. Elcock, E. V. & Michie, D., pp. 151–68. John Wiley & Sons. [IJC] (in preparation) Measuring the knowledge content of advice. [IJ]Google Scholar
Miller, C. A. (1953) What is information measurement? American Psychologist 8:3–11. [ta FID]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1956) TIse magical number seven, plies or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Reciemw 63:81–97. [ta FID, RNH]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neisser, U. (1967) Cognitive psychology. Appleton-Century-Crofts. [ta FID]Google Scholar
Rock, I. (1975) An introduction to perception. Macmillan. [ta FID]Google Scholar
Rozeboom, W. W. (1983) Do mental systems have a scientific future? Annals of Theoretical Psychology 3. [VWR]Google Scholar
Rumelhart, D. E. (1977) Introduction to human information processing. John Wiley & Sons. [ta FID]Google Scholar
Sayre, K. (1965) Recognition: A study in the philosophy of artflcial intelligence. University of Notre Dame Press. [ta FID]Google Scholar
Searle, , John, (1980) Minds, brains, and programs. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3:417–57. [HG]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shannon, C. (1948) A mathematical the'ory of communication. Bell System Technical journal 27:379–423; 623–56. [KMS]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shannon, C. & Weaver, V. (1949) The mathematical theory of communication. University of Illinois Press. [ta FID, BL]Google Scholar
Sperling, C. (1960) The information available in brief visual presentations. Psychological Monographs 74:11. [ta FID]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shortliffe, E. H. (1976) Computer-based medical consultations: MYCIN. Elsevier. [MAA]Google Scholar
Stich, S. (1982) On the ascription of content. In: Thought and object, ed. Voodfield, A., pp. 153–206. Clarendon Press. [PMC]Google Scholar
Uhr, L. (1973) Pattern recognition, learning, and thought. Prentice-Hall. [tie FlD]Google Scholar
Weaver, V. (1948) Probability, rarity, interest and surprise. Scientific Monthly 67:390–92. [hG]Google ScholarPubMed