Raymond Ruyer (1902–1987) was professor of philosophy at the Université de Nancy. A highly original and prolific philosopher, he sought to provide a metaphysics adequate to the discoveries of science. Today his works are being rediscovered by a new generation, both in France and beyond. Cybernetics and the Origin of Information is his third book to appear in English translation, after Neofinalism and The Genesis of Living Forms.Amélie Berger-Soraruff is research project manager at the Maison Française d’Oxford. Andrew Iliadis is assistant professor of media studies at Temple University.Daniel W. Smith is professor of philosophy at Purdue University. Ashley Woodward is senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Dundee.

This book should be read by anyone interested in cybernetics, information theory, and the philosophy of information. In it, Ruyer critically distances himself from classic approaches to automation and information, which will shape the development of information and communication technologies in the following decades. His philosophical discussion is balanced and insightful, often anticipating much later debates, and when the history of the philosophy of information will be written, Ruyer’s work and this book will undoubtedly deserve a chapter. The translators must be congratulated for making this volume available in English, in an accessible and reliable translation.

• Translator’s Introduction: Raymond Ruyer and the Philosophy of InformationAshley WoodwardNote on the TranslationIntroduction1. The Main Types of Information Machines2. Framing Activities and Framed Mechanisms3. The Space of Behaviour and Axiological ‘Space’ 4. Communication5. The Origin of Information6. Negative Anti-chance and Positive Anti-chance7. Past-Future and Cybernetics8. The Mixed Origin of Information9. Summary and Conclusion (to the First Edition)10. The Problems of Cybernetics in 1967NotesBibliographyIndexAbout the Author and Translators

Raymond Ruyer (1902–1987) was professor of philosophy at the Université de Nancy. A highly original and prolific philosopher, he sought to provide a metaphysics adequate to the discoveries of science. Today his works are being rediscovered by a new generation, both in France and beyond. Cybernetics and the Origin of Information is his third book to appear in English translation, after Neofinalism and The Genesis of Living Forms.Amélie Berger-Soraruff is research project manager at the Maison Française d’Oxford. Andrew Iliadis is assistant professor of media studies at Temple University.Daniel W. Smith is professor of philosophy at Purdue University. Ashley Woodward is senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Dundee.

This book should be read by anyone interested in cybernetics, information theory, and the philosophy of information. In it, Ruyer critically distances himself from classic approaches to automation and information, which will shape the development of information and communication technologies in the following decades. His philosophical discussion is balanced and insightful, often anticipating much later debates, and when the history of the philosophy of information will be written, Ruyer’s work and this book will undoubtedly deserve a chapter. The translators must be congratulated for making this volume available in English, in an accessible and reliable translation.

• Translator’s Introduction: Raymond Ruyer and the Philosophy of InformationAshley WoodwardNote on the TranslationIntroduction1. The Main Types of Information Machines2. Framing Activities and Framed Mechanisms3. The Space of Behaviour and Axiological ‘Space’ 4. Communication5. The Origin of Information6. Negative Anti-chance and Positive Anti-chance7. Past-Future and Cybernetics8. The Mixed Origin of Information9. Summary and Conclusion (to the First Edition)10. The Problems of Cybernetics in 1967NotesBibliographyIndexAbout the Author and Translators

Raymond Ruyer (1902–1987) was professor of philosophy at the Université de Nancy. A highly original and prolific philosopher, he sought to provide a metaphysics adequate to the discoveries of science. Today his works are being rediscovered by a new generation, both in France and beyond. Cybernetics and the Origin of Information is his third book to appear in English translation, after Neofinalism and The Genesis of Living Forms.Amélie Berger-Soraruff is research project manager at the Maison Française d’Oxford. Andrew Iliadis is assistant professor of media studies at Temple University.Daniel W. Smith is professor of philosophy at Purdue University. Ashley Woodward is senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Dundee.

This book should be read by anyone interested in cybernetics, information theory, and the philosophy of information. In it, Ruyer critically distances himself from classic approaches to automation and information, which will shape the development of information and communication technologies in the following decades. His philosophical discussion is balanced and insightful, often anticipating much later debates, and when the history of the philosophy of information will be written, Ruyer’s work and this book will undoubtedly deserve a chapter. The translators must be congratulated for making this volume available in English, in an accessible and reliable translation.

• Translator’s Introduction: Raymond Ruyer and the Philosophy of InformationAshley WoodwardNote on the TranslationIntroduction1. The Main Types of Information Machines2. Framing Activities and Framed Mechanisms3. The Space of Behaviour and Axiological ‘Space’ 4. Communication5. The Origin of Information6. Negative Anti-chance and Positive Anti-chance7. Past-Future and Cybernetics8. The Mixed Origin of Information9. Summary and Conclusion (to the First Edition)10. The Problems of Cybernetics in 1967NotesBibliographyIndexAbout the Author and Translators