Cybernetics and the Origin of Information

Paperback, 242 pages

English language

Published 2023 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

ISBN:: 978-1-78661-499-5

(1 review)

Raymond Ruyer (1902–1987) was professor of philosophy at the Université de Nancy. A highly original and prolific philosopher, he sought to provide a metaphysics adequate to the discoveries of science. Today his works are being rediscovered by a new generation, both in France and beyond. Cybernetics and the Origin of Information is his third book to appear in English translation, after Neofinalism and The Genesis of Living Forms.

One of the lost classics of French philosophy, Cybernetics and the Origin of Information has never before been published in English. Raymond Ruyer—who was a major influence on Simondon and Deleuze, among others—originally wrote this book, one of the first critiques of Norbert Wiener’s cybernetics program, in 1954. At once critical and analytical, it is a deep exploration of information theory, cybernetics, and the philosophical assumptions and implications of both. Among the themes covered in the book are the main types …

Raymond Ruyer (1902–1987) was professor of philosophy at the Université de Nancy. A highly original and prolific philosopher, he sought to provide a metaphysics adequate to the discoveries of science. Today his works are being rediscovered by a new generation, both in France and beyond. Cybernetics and the Origin of Information is his third book to appear in English translation, after Neofinalism and The Genesis of Living Forms.

One of the lost classics of French philosophy, Cybernetics and the Origin of Information has never before been published in English. Raymond Ruyer—who was a major influence on Simondon and Deleuze, among others—originally wrote this book, one of the first critiques of Norbert Wiener’s cybernetics program, in 1954. At once critical and analytical, it is a deep exploration of information theory, cybernetics, and the philosophical assumptions and implications of both. Among the themes covered in the book are the main types of information machines, information’s relationship to behavior and communication, and the nature of entropy and time in cybernetics. This translation contributes to understanding the rich history of cybernetics and the philosophy of information. A true hidden gem in the history of philosophical thought, this text will help readers understand foundational criticisms of ideas that have led to artificial intelligence.

1 edition

gesang reviewed Cybernetics and the Origin of Information by Raymond Ruyer (Groundworks)

Full of good examples but verbose and not really saying anything

3 stars

I've taken some notes, or made some comments, on the text: notes.itinerariummentis.org/share/qJKxpNfXeugv While Ruyer is really good at finding out good examples to make his point, his thought doesn't go deep enough, and it stumbles before words like "meaning" which seem to be a sort of substitute for some metaphysical entity that is wholly mysterious. The proposed solution, given by Ruyer, to the problem of the origin of information, while in his words is to abandon some form of "Platonism" (a crude interpretation), is still essentially Platonism, in that meaning and value is put in a transcendental world ("trans-spacial world"). The Mind here do not create ex nihilo, but it channels the transcendental to the physical - this is full-blooded Platonism, but with some modifications done by Neo-Platonists ("emanation") or by the Peripatetics (active-passive distinction, telos versus efficient cause). On these points I've already pointed out in the notes. …

I've taken some notes, or made some comments, on the text: notes.itinerariummentis.org/share/qJKxpNfXeugv While Ruyer is really good at finding out good examples to make his point, his thought doesn't go deep enough, and it stumbles before words like "meaning" which seem to be a sort of substitute for some metaphysical entity that is wholly mysterious. The proposed solution, given by Ruyer, to the problem of the origin of information, while in his words is to abandon some form of "Platonism" (a crude interpretation), is still essentially Platonism, in that meaning and value is put in a transcendental world ("trans-spacial world"). The Mind here do not create ex nihilo, but it channels the transcendental to the physical - this is full-blooded Platonism, but with some modifications done by Neo-Platonists ("emanation") or by the Peripatetics (active-passive distinction, telos versus efficient cause). On these points I've already pointed out in the notes. Still Ruyer's examples, while lengthy and hard to tolerate its verbosity, are genuinely good.

Subjects

Philosophy of Technology
Philosophy of Information
Philosophy