About
Philosopher of Information might be the best description of me, although I’ve also been referred to as “the philosophy guy” and “the culture guy.” As a student of information science and technology, I am interested in the complex philosophical and conceptual underpinnings of information. My perspective is shaped by the theory and writings of Martin Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Hubert Dreyfus, Terry Winograd, Luciano Floridi, Rafael Capurro and Charles Ess, among others. I ask questions such as:
- What is the ontology of information?
- How do we process information–contribute to and appropriate schemas–cognitively and culturally?
- How is the ontological structure of information influenced by the epistemological approaches we use (e.g., in the philosophies of science)?
- In what ways are social tagging systems reflective or representative of the complex conceptual ontologies of human cognition?
- How can we blend the strong systematized forms of computational ontologies with the flexibility of human conceptual ontologies? Can we integrate the cultural diversity of human thought as part of this blending?
- What roles do syntax, semantics, knowledge and representation play in our understanding of information and how do these affect the development of intelligent technologies and artificial agents?
- Is the emergent nature of Dasein also a requisite for AI? How might we computationalize learning, situational awareness, emotion and imagination as part of the development of AI?
- What counts as an informational organism or object, and what ethical obligations do we have in relation to it?
- How do we understand and account for distributed ethical responsibility and accountability in complex, hybrid human-computer systems?
It’s difficult to describe my focus in terms of traditional disciplines, as the issues I explore are necessarily interdisciplinary, requiring the integration of theory, method and praxis from disparate disciplines such as anthropology, cognitive science, computer science, and philosophy. They also tend towards a transdisciplinarity, with the development of new and innovative theories, methods and models that have the potential to transcend or transform traditional disciplinary schemas. The nature of my work, with its strongly theoretical orientation, creates a challenge to finding the right academic position. And while philosophy is a significant part of my skill set, it is not the only one I bring to the academic table. I bring empirical skills as a social science researcher, especially as pertaining to cross-cultural and intercultural technology use, the design of quantitative and qualitative survey instruments, and ethnographic methods. I am a well-seasoned instructor, developing and delivering courses in corporate and academic settings, including a senior undergraduate course I developed on Technology & Information Ethics in Spring 2010.
See my Research
page for an extensive list of my research interests.
