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Objectivity, Information, and Maxwell's Demon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Steven Weinstein
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Abstract

This paper examines some common measures of complexity, structure, and information, with an eye toward understanding the extent to which complexity or information-content may be regarded as objective properties of individual objects. A form of contextual objectivity is proposed which renders the measures objective, and which largely resolves the puzzle of Maxwell's Demon.

Type
Topics in Philosophy of Physics
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 70 , Issue 5: Proceedings of the 2002 Biennial Meeting of The Philosophy of Science Association. Part I: Contributed Papers , December 2003 , pp. 1245 - 1255
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

Thanks to Jos Uffink and Janneke van Lith–van Dis for helpful discussions.

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