Impacts of Information and Communications Technology on conduct: contributions of the Peircean theory of information

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to develop a reflection about the existing relations between information and action, in the context of information and communications technology (ICT). The central problem that will guide the article can be formulated as follows: What is the influence of information available in the ICT on autonomous action? The direction of research in relation to the concept of information generally has a technical orientation, not focusing on ethical, ontological and epistemological issues, which are equally relevant when dealing with this concept. In contrast to this current technical orientation, we highlight the approach proposed by Charles S. Peirce, which characterizes information from different perspectives: logical-semantic, pragmatic and semiotic. Based on the hypothesis that informational processes have a fundamental role in the direction of action, we investigate the impacts of ICT present in everyday relationships, in the complex network of contemporary life. We discuss transformations that ICT has made possible in the agent-environment relationship, highlighting tools that foster actions, often directed by interests unrelated to those of users. We argue that the study of information is important for understanding the possible implications of ICT in directing human action.