Holistic epistemology and prospects for design in the philosophy of information

Abstract

The discipline of library and information science (LIS), conceived narrowly as applied philosophy of information, overlooks a rich tradition of debate and discussion about its holistic epistemological features. For the LIS profession to deliver services that safeguard social values such as equality of access, intellectual freedom, and diversity, its discipline should reconnect information with knowledge and with epistemology as the theory of knowledge. This article critiques conceptions of information not bound to the core features of the LIS profession and its discipline. It evaluates some early and recent conceptions of information connecting it to the profession’s remitof activities and services. LIS theorists’ ideas about holistic epistemology and perspectivism are discussed and evaluated as prospects for design and development.