<html>
  <head>
    <meta content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"
      http-equiv="Content-Type">
  </head>
  <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">Dear Mark and all,<br>
      <br>
      I agree with your criticisms on Floridi. My own look like this:<br>
      <br>
      <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "times new
        roman", times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;
        font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
        font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2;
        text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none;
        white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;
        -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(204, 204,
        204); display: inline !important; float: none;">In his paper<span
          class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a
href="http://www.philosophyofinformation.net/blog/2008/03/against-digital-ontology.html"
        style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;
        font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures:
        normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal;
        letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify;
        text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
        widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
        background-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">A defense of information
        structural realism (Synthese 2009, Vol. 61, No. 2, pp. 219-253)</a><span
        style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "times new
        roman", times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;
        font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
        font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2;
        text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none;
        white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;
        -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(204, 204,
        204); display: inline !important; float: none;"><span
          class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Floridi argues that
        digital ontology deals with the view that "the ultimate nature
        of reality is digital". This is, indeed, as Floridi stresses, an
        uncritical pre-kantian view. But what Floridi calls "digital
        ontology" is in fact digital metaphysics. Using the term
        "ontology" with regard to his own theory, namely "informational
        ontology" ("the ultimate nature of reality is structural"),
        Floridi is no less metaphysical or pre-kantian and his argument
        is self-contradictory.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br
        style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "times new
        roman", times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;
        font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
        font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2;
        text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none;
        white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;
        -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(204, 204,
        204);">
      <br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "times new
        roman", times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;
        font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
        font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2;
        text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none;
        white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;
        -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(204, 204,
        204);">
      <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "times new
        roman", times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;
        font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
        font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2;
        text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none;
        white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;
        -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(204, 204,
        204); display: inline !important; float: none;">When I talk
        about digital ontology I am taking no position with regard to
        the digital as "the ultimate nature of reality". I am just
        saying that in the present age, the digital seems to be (at
        least it seems to me) the prevalent perspective for
        understanding (!) beings in their being. This is an
        epistemological (in Heideggerian terms: an "ontological") view,
        not a metaphysical (or "ontological" in Floridi's terms) one.
        But, indeed, this ontological perspective can become a
        metaphysical one. Floridi denies the legitimacy of such a
        digital Pythagoreism, and I agree with him in this point. But he
        makes the case for a kind of informational Platonism which is no
        less metaphysical than the digital one he criticizes. Floridi's
        "infosphere" is nothing but a Platonic phantasy.</span><br>
      <br>
      more at:<br>
      <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.capurro.de/floridi.html">http://www.capurro.de/floridi.html</a><br>
      <br>
      best<br>
      <br>
      Rafael<br>
      <br>
    </div>
    <blockquote
cite="mid:CAEzq2RR9iL0NwNvBHP4X6MCkqoP_eVH-0wQ1Uk=sXM5SH5NXMg@mail.gmail.com"
      type="cite">
      <div dir="ltr">Dear Moises and all,<br>
        <br>
        Floridi has an excellent chapter in his "philosophy of
        information" called "Against digital ontology". It's worth
        quoting the two fundamental questions he asks about digital
        ontology:<br>
        <br>
        "a. whether the physical universe might be adequately modelled
        digitally and computationally, independently of whether it is
        actually digital and computational in itself;<br>
        <br>
        b. whether the ultimate nature of the physical universe might be
        actually digital and computation in itself, independently of how
        it can be effectively or adequately modelled." (Floridi,
        "Philosophy of Information", p320)<br>
        <br>
        My point is that this stuff is highly speculative. Of course, it
        might be argued that "it from qbit" is fundamentally different
        from "it from bit". But is it really? Quantum computers look
        rather like parallel processors, don't they? Also the emphasis
        on relations rather than atoms (qbits) in the article is
        interesting, but it looks like there is still an atomistic logic
        behind it. It's the stuff of computer science - even if it's
        quantum computer science.<br>
        <br>
        I might struggle to see the point - even if I'm happy that
        physicists are talking about information. If anybody was to
        communicate this in a way that helps me see why this matters,
        they would probably have to amplify their descriptions - in
        effect, add redundancy in their descriptions. In this particular
        case, I think that would be very difficult.<br>
        <br>
        Curiously, in the recent discussion on this list about the
        additional layer of information in DNA (<a
          moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-confirm-a-second-layer-of-information-hiding-in-dna">http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-confirm-a-second-layer-of-information-hiding-in-dna</a>),
        I think it would be easier to amplify the descriptions. <br>
        <br>
        Best wishes,
        <div><br>
        </div>
        <div>Mark<br>
          <br>
          <br>
          <br>
        </div>
      </div>
      <div class="gmail_extra"><br>
        <div class="gmail_quote">On 5 November 2016 at 11:28, Moisés
          André Nisenbaum <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
              href="mailto:moises.nisenbaum@ifrj.edu.br" target="_blank">moises.nisenbaum@ifrj.edu.br</a>></span>
          wrote:<br>
          <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
            .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
            <div dir="ltr">
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Dear
                  FISers.<span></span></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I was very
                  excited with the John’s first message informing that a
                  group of scientists is
                  discussing again the role of Information in Physics.<span></span></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br>
                </span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The high impact on
                  FIS list of John’s post (13 replies from different
                  persons in 2 days) shows that it is yet an open
                  discussion. Thank you all for the very interesting
                  posts :-)</span></p>
              <div><br>
              </div>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The works (not
                  interdisciplinary nor reductionist) of Tom Stonier
                  (1991), Holger Lyre (1995) and Carl Friedrich Von
                  Weizsäcker, et. Al (2006) and many discussions on this
                  list (<a moz-do-not-send="true"
                    href="http://fis.sciforum.net/fis-discussion-sessions/"
                    target="_blank">http://fis.sciforum.net/fis-<wbr>discussion-sessions/</a>)
                  are also about this theme. </span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br>
                </span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal">Scientific
                American article is an introduction. So I went to the
                source of the project
                named “It from Qubit: Simons Collaboration on Quantum
                Fields, Gravity, and
                Information.<br>
              </p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Home page:
                  <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.simonsfoundation.org/mathematics-and-physical-science/it-from-qubit-simons-collaboration-on-quantum-fields-gravity-and-information/"
                    target="_blank">https://www.simonsfoundation.<wbr>org/mathematics-and-physical-<wbr>science/it-from-qubit-simons-<wbr>collaboration-on-quantum-<wbr>fields-gravity-and-<wbr>information/</a><span></span></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Overview:
                  <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                    href="http://web.stanford.edu/%7Ephayden/simons/overview.pdf"
                    target="_blank">http://web.stanford.edu/~<wbr>phayden/simons/overview.pdf</a><span></span></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Project:
                  <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                    href="http://web.stanford.edu/%7Ephayden/simons/simons-proposal.pdf"
                    target="_blank">http://web.stanford.edu/~<wbr>phayden/simons/simons-<wbr>proposal.pdf</a><span></span></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Mainly, it
                  is an Interdisciplinary Resarch group trying to
                  approximate Fundamental Physics
                  from Quantum Information, so I think that it is a good
                  and necessary
                  initiative. Imagine what we can “extract” from this
                  two fields working
                  together!<span></span></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">They have
                  several projects, but I think that the final goals is
                  not as important as the
                  revelations of the processes. We should look at the
                  projects. Maybe we
                  can find that, after all, the title “it from qbit” was
                  only a “marketing” (bad?) choice :-)<span></span></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><br>
              </p>
              <p class="MsoNormal">Kind regards,<br>
              </p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><br>
              </p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Moisés<span></span></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br>
                </span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">References:<span></span></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">STONIER, T.
                  <b>Towards a new theory of information</b>. Journal of
                  Information Science. <b>Anais</b>...1991Disponível
                  em: </span><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-0026386595&partnerID=tZOtx3y1"
                  target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US">http://www.scopus.com/inward/<wbr>record.url?eid=2-s2.0-<wbr>0026386595&partnerID=tZOtx3y1</span></a><span
                  lang="EN-US"><span></span></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“Information
                  science is badly in need of an information theory. The
                  paper discusses both the
                  need, and the possibility of developing such a theory
                  based on the assumption
                  that information is a basic property of the universe.”<span></span></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br>
                </span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">LYRE, H.
                  Quantum theory of Ur-objects as a theory of
                  information. </span><b>International
                  Journal of Theoretical Physics</b>, v. 34, n. 8, p.
                1541–1552, ago. 1995.<span></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“The
                  quantum theory of ur-objects proposed by C. F. von
                  Weizsäcker has to be
                  interpreted as a quantum theory of information.”<span></span></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br>
                </span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">WEIZSÄCKER,
                  C. F. VON; GÖRNITZ, T.; LYRE, H. <b>The structure of
                    physics</b>. </span>Dordrecht:
                Springer, 2006.<span></span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“the idea
                  of a quantum theory of binary alternatives (the
                  so-called ur-theory), a unified
                  quantum theoretical framework in which spinorial
                  symmetry groups are considered
                  to give rise to the structure of space and time.”<span></span></span></p>
              <div class="gmail_extra"><br>
                <div class="gmail_quote"><span class="">2016-11-03 16:52
                    GMT-02:00 John Collier <span dir="ltr"><<a
                        moz-do-not-send="true"
                        href="mailto:Collierj@ukzn.ac.za"
                        target="_blank">Collierj@ukzn.ac.za</a>></span>:<br>
                  </span>
                  <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px
                    0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
                    rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><span class="">
                      <div lang="EN-ZA">
                        <div
                          class="m_-6842305427728578048gmail-m_-2553233184730113427WordSection1">
                          <p class="MsoNormal">Apparently some
                            physicists think so.</p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tangled-up-in-spacetime/?WT.mc_id=SA_WR_20161102"
                              target="_blank">https://www.scientificamerican<wbr>.com/article/tangled-up-in-spa<wbr>cetime/?WT.mc_id=SA_WR_2016110<wbr>2</a></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span>John Collier</span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Emeritus Professor
                              and Senior Research Associate</span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Philosophy,
                              University of KwaZulu-Natal</span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span><a
                                moz-do-not-send="true"
                                href="http://web.ncf.ca/collier"
                                target="_blank">http://web.ncf.ca/collier</a></span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
                        </div>
                      </div>
                      <br>
                      ______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>
                      Fis mailing list<br>
                      <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                        href="mailto:Fis@listas.unizar.es"
                        target="_blank">Fis@listas.unizar.es</a><br>
                    </span><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                      href="http://listas.unizar.es/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fis"
                      rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://listas.unizar.es/cgi-bi<wbr>n/mailman/listinfo/fis</a><br>
                    <br>
                  </blockquote>
                </div>
                <span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
                    <br clear="all">
                    <div><br>
                    </div>
                    -- <br>
                    <div class="m_-6842305427728578048gmail_signature">
                      <div dir="ltr">
                        <div>
                          <div dir="ltr">
                            <div>
                              <div dir="ltr">Moisés André Nisenbaum<br>
                                Doutorando IBICT/UFRJ. Professor. Msc.<br>
                                Instituto Federal do Rio de Janeiro -
                                IFRJ<br>
                                Campus Rio de Janeiro<br>
                                <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                                  href="mailto:moises.nisenbaum@ifrj.edu.br"
                                  target="_blank">moises.nisenbaum@ifrj.edu.br</a></div>
                            </div>
                          </div>
                        </div>
                      </div>
                    </div>
                  </font></span></div>
            </div>
            <br>
            ______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>
            Fis mailing list<br>
            <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:Fis@listas.unizar.es">Fis@listas.unizar.es</a><br>
            <a moz-do-not-send="true"
              href="http://listas.unizar.es/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fis"
              rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://listas.unizar.es/cgi-<wbr>bin/mailman/listinfo/fis</a><br>
            <br>
          </blockquote>
        </div>
        <br>
        <br clear="all">
        <div><br>
        </div>
        -- <br>
        <div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
          <div dir="ltr">
            <div>Dr. Mark William Johnson<br>
              Institute of Learning and Teaching</div>
            <div>Faculty of Health and Life Sciences</div>
            <div>University of Liverpool</div>
            <div><br>
              Visiting Professor<br>
              Far Eastern Federal University, Russia</div>
            <div><br>
              Phone: 07786 064505<br>
              Email: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                href="mailto:johnsonmwj1@gmail.com" target="_blank">johnsonmwj1@gmail.com</a><br>
              Blog: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                href="http://dailyimprovisation.blogspot.com"
                target="_blank">http://dailyimprovisation.blogspot.com</a>
            </div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
      <br>
      <fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
      <br>
      <pre wrap="">_______________________________________________
Fis mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Fis@listas.unizar.es">Fis@listas.unizar.es</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://listas.unizar.es/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fis">http://listas.unizar.es/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fis</a>
</pre>
    </blockquote>
    <br>
    <p><br>
    </p>
    <pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">-- 
Prof.em. Dr. Rafael Capurro 
Hochschule der Medien (HdM), Stuttgart, Germany
Capurro Fiek Foundation for Information Ethics (<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.capurro-fiek-foundation.org">http://www.capurro-fiek-foundation.org</a>)
Distinguished Researcher at the African Centre of Excellence for Information Ethics (ACEIE), Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Chair, International Center for Information Ethics (ICIE) (<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://icie.zkm.de">http://icie.zkm.de</a>)
Editor in Chief, International Review of Information Ethics (IRIE) (<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.i-r-i-e.net">http://www.i-r-i-e.net</a>)
Postal Address: Redtenbacherstr. 9, 76133 Karlsruhe, Germany
E-Mail: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:rafael@capurro.de">rafael@capurro.de</a>
Voice: + 49 - 721 - 98 22 9 - 22 (Fax: -21)
Homepage: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.capurro.de">www.capurro.de</a>
</pre>
  </body>
</html>