Methodological Issues

Abstract

The information revolution engendered by the evolution of digital information and communication technologies (ICTs) is a central issue that needs to be investigated and examined against the backdrop of a mature and comprehensive theory of information that has clearly formulated methodological premises rooted in the philosophical tradition. Only then can we gain a deeper understanding of our relationship with technology today. Luciano Floridi’s theory of information, which encompasses both a philosophy (The philosophy of information. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011a) and an ethics of information (Information ethics. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013; see also Floridi 2008a, b), satisfies this inescapable methodological requirement. The method that Floridi develops (the method of levels of abstraction) can be applied to the entire range of issues with which his theory of information is concerned. This method is indeed very fruitful, since it avoids the pitfalls of the Scylla of subjectivism and the Charybdis of objectivism. In the present chapter and throughout this whole book, we will illustrate and make use of Floridi’s method while attempting, whenever possible, to lay bare the profound philosophical underpinnings of the subjects evoked in our analysis. In so doing, we hope that every thesis presented in this text is rooted in a thoughtful understanding of the history of philosophy.