The philosophy, politics and economics of information. Archie L Dick.

Abstract

This book offers a fresh, new look at information, and this approach opens the door to focus on the contemporary debate on information philosophy and the political economy of information. The book is divided into four segments (which the author refers to as an information circuit) namely, the representation of information, its production, regulation, and the consumption of information. As the author puts it, 'The articulation between these elements of the information circuit allows the convergence of conceptual and material dimensionsthat typify the difficulties of information discourse. In other words, the bipolar or twofold nature of information requires a simultaneous recognition of its "softer" meaning-related side and its "harder" physicalattributes. The information circuit also opens up for discussionthe idea of information industries and their economic and social roles, as well as the idea of information's role in philosophical and political contexts' (p.lsl).