"Information" vs. "Reflection": Collisions and Solutions

The research features problematic issues of the philosophical and general scientific conceptualization of "infor­mation" on the basis of terminological and conceptual collisions that appear within the dialectical materialistic ideas. The paper focuses on how the concept was internalized in domestic studies, its interpretations, and the comprehension of its ontological and theoretical-cognitive status. The concept of "reflection" was developed within the dialectical materialism. It proved essential as an epistemic metaphor that illustrates multiple aspects regarding the interaction and mutual influence of systems involved in various "information" processes. However, the limited nature of the concept of reflection is apparent: it is not enough for a philosophical understanding of "information". The concept of "information" has numerous semantic invariants that are not covered by the notion of reflection. The paper describes collisions that arose in trying to comprehend the relationship between the concepts of "reflection" vs. "information" within the attributive and the functional theories. They indicate the need for a synthesis of the complex approach. The phenomenon of "information" is integrative in nature for contemporary information theories due to the pluralism and the open mode for scientific communication. The authors believe that the explication of semantic invariants of the concept of "information" is fundamentally important for the formation of a dialogical environment of the interdisciplinary interaction. The article features the prospects of applying the complexity approach, i.e. E. Moren’s complexity science, for philosophical understanding of information, understanding the essence of the phenomenon. The approach can help to overcome collisions that arise in the process of conceptualizing "information" as a philosophical and general scientific concept.