Understanding the Pulse of Existence: An Examination of Capurro’s Angeletics

Abstract

The contribution of Rafael Capurro to the clarification of the uses of the concept of information has a conceptual as well a historical dimension; in this last sense, there are few philosophers of information that can follow the history of the concept of information in the works of the Classics with the accuracy and erudition of Capurro. We find that his contribution embraces the following fields: a) a clear differentiation between subjective and objective information and as a consequence of that b) a clear differentiation between information as order in the universe, different from matter and idea. But the contribution he made has not only been analytical and historical, it has also been creative, opening up for us an understanding of the phenomena of “information” through the differentiation between the act of interpretation of a message (hermeneutics) and the proper act of communication as a specific kind of intentional act. Capurro has opened up a new discipline named “angeletics.” As we understand the Capurrian framework, the key idea is to comprehend how “a message produces changes in both the emissary and in the receptor.” According to Capurro, a message has two dimensions; one is information, and the other intentionality. It is the aim of our short article to take a closer look at Rafael Capurro’s contribution to the understanding of these two sides of the message.