Information and meaning: foundations for an intersubjective account

Abstract

Abstract. Information is fundamental to the discipline of information systems, yet there is little agreement about even this basic concept. Traditionally, information has been seen as ‘processed data,’ while more recently soft, interpretive approaches have taken information to be ‘data plus meaning.’ This paper provides a coherent and consistent analysis of data, information, meaning and their interrelations. It is particularly concerned with the semantic and pragmatic dimensions of information, and integrates the work of Maturana and Habermas into a framework provided by Dretske's theory of semantic information. The results show that meaning is generated from the information carried by signs. Information is objective, but inaccessible to humans, who exist exclusively in a world of meaning. Meaning is intersubjective — that is, based on shared agreement and understanding — rather than purely subjective. Information, and information processing systems, exist within the wider context of meaning or sense‐making and the IS discipline needs take account of this.