Information and action in complex systems

• Grant number: 12/16917-8
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International
• Start date: November 22, 2012
• End date: December 10, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - Epistemology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Eunice Quilici Gonzalez
• Grantee: Maria Eunice Quilici Gonzalez
• Visiting researcher: Frederick Adams
• Visiting researcher institution: University of Delaware (UD), United States
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FFC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Marília. Marília , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 10/52627-9 - Sistemics, self-organization and information, AP.TEM

Abstract

This project of research aims to proposing and discussing a characterization of intentional action using the concepts of information, self-organization, and complex systems. This proposal will be developed by an epistemological view from the following assumptions: (a) the directness of action, which qualifies it as intentional, in contrast with mere body movement, can be characterized by the information system that gives its support, and, (b) the adequate method of analysis of intentional action requires an interdisciplinary approach, involving the Philosophy of Mind, Pragmatism, and Ecological Philosophy. With the assumptions (a) and (b), the main problem that will guide our reflection can be stated as follow: What is the epistemological contribution of informational approach of intentional action? Studies about the distinction between mere movements and intentional action has been done in Ecological Philosophy by Gibson (1982, 1986), Shaw (1991), and Petrusz & Turvey (2010), in Philosophy of Mind by Dretske (1981, 1992), Adams (1989, 2003), and Juarrero (2002), among others. Supported by the reflection of these philosophers, the novelty of this proposal is the interdisciplinary approach of intentional action, considering elements of Semiotics and from the Informational Theory of Complex Systems. (AU)