A study of Schopenhauer contributions for Information Science: the world as a will and representation

Abstract

Introduction: Arthur Schopenhauer was a nineteenth-century German philosopher author of the book entitled 'The World as Will and Representation', originally published in 1819, which addresses the complex relationship between representation and the way man interprets reality. Objective: To analyze the contributions of Arthur Schopenhauer, identified in the work 'The World as Will and Representation', verifying approximations with the theoretical corpus of Information Science, mainly in relation to the works developed by Wittgenstein (1968) and Dahlberg (1978) study of Language and Concept Theory. Methodology: The research fits as theoretical, analytical character and used as methodological procedures activities of review, analysis and interpretation of the selected literature. Results: From the study carried out it was possible to infer that the works developed by Wittgenstein (1968) and Dahlberg (1978) in the scope of the Information Science area were influenced by the conception of representation presented in Schopenhauer's work, considering that the representations base the human understanding about the functioning of reality as it is known, developed as ways to encode nature, and relations between beings, in a language assimilable to reason. Conclusions: Schopenhauer offers a conception of representation that can be incorporated into the field of Information Science, since it understands that concepts are key elements of representation, since they encompass the subject and object relationship, knowledge would be the result of that relationship and a form of representation of the world.