Theoretical Approaches to Information

Theoretical and philosophical approaches to information provides a context for HATII's research as well as forming a research themes in its own right. Issues of post-modernism, relativism, cognition and consciousness, with a particular emphasis on machine consciousness, information and information processing in both computational and post-computational frameworks are areas of interest.

Susan Stuart, with her background in philosophy has adressed some of these issue in her co-edited book Computation, Information, Cognition The Nexus and The Liminal (Cambridge Scholars, 2007). Under her supervision, Bill Cameron was awarded his PhD (July 2006) and continues to play an active part in the intellectual life of the Institute as a post-doctoral fellow. Together with Michael Moss, from a background in history and archives, and James Currall, from one in statistics, Stuart collaborates in research into the foundational concepts of information sciences.

They have recently been asked to develop their ideas of digital identity for a special issue of the Journal of Applied Logic on the philosophy of computer science. Collectively with Ian Anderson and Seamus Ross they supervise eight PhD students who are working on different theoretical aspects of information, ranging, for example, from the relationship of time, truth and accountability in the information world (Craig Gauld), and the role of identity to family history and gender (Lyndsey Short).