PREFACE

Logeion - Philosophy of Information, published by the research group Philosophy and Information Policy of IBICT, completes its sixth year of life. This is a source of immense gratitude to the readers, their reason for existing, but also to the authors, who contribute to the quality of the magazine.

There are six years investing to form a communication community around an area in demarcation: the Philosophy of Information. We have particularly sought to highlight the practical philosophy: Ethics and politics. It is fundamental for criticism in and of Information Science.

This without neglecting the opening to other branches and approaches, such as Epistemology, Aesthetics and Logic. The consolidation of critical spaces is necessary for the evolution of Information Science itself, born within the traditions of empirical sciences and functionalist applications.

In this hour of joy, it is important to highlight the collaboration of the Editorial Committee, which offers references, and the competent and voluntary work of an Editorial Team, which has been guaranteeing good production and the occupation of greater spaces in the databases and virtual libraries.

We must mention the time when this issue of the magazine is being published: during the global epidemic of Covid19. It is not an extra detail in the context: there are millions of infected and thousands of dead worldwide. The social, cultural, environmental and economic impacts are profound, but we are far from being able to assess their extent and severity.

Everything published in this issue was produced during the pandemic, when there was the greatest social isolation in history. People stayed at home to reduce contagion rates, but continued to work and think critically about their work.

The “storage braking” of the history tram is forcing everyone to review perspectives and values. It is not normal for a thousand people to die every day for months from a communicable disease. Michel Foucault taught us that the horizon of finitude with death makes us review the relationship with God and with the human. This is part of what we are experiencing.

There is no possible return to the previous situation with total ignorance of the facts in the pandemic. We have to metabolize events. Whether we like it or not, we are learning and we still don't know what. The novelty and breadth of this pandemic make it more difficult to understand.

Each human being was confronted with his own finitude and with the solidarity demand of isolation. An unequal society has produced unequal responses. The vulnerability of the miserable, the poor and the precarious workers was exposed in a cruel way. The effects of the pandemic are not the same across society.

I would like to underline three facts among so many in this pandemic: the outbreak of demonstrations against racism, the demonstration of the benefits of the minimum income guaranteed by the State and the epidemic of scientific information on the control of communicable diseases.

In the midst of the process of social isolation in the USA, the image of the death of a black man by asphyxiation produced by a white police officer has become the symbol of the present time. In response, thousands of young people wearing protective masks took to the streets of dozens of North American cities to say that black lives matter. It was a broadcast broadcast in real time to the whole world.

The second striking fact in these first six months of the pandemic is the legitimation of minimum income programs. Born as a theory of liberal thought, they were appropriated by democratic and popular governments. Now they have been created or expanded in several countries, including Brazil. Its obvious benefits, guaranteeing subsistence for tens of millions, include increased demand for basic products and services. This resulted in the huge popularization of “Bolsa Família”, which should now be expanded in terms of coverage and increase in value per beneficiary.

The third relevant fact was the intense dissemination and use of scientific information regarding the virus, its transmission, modes of prevention, isolation, vaccines, clinical signs, treatment of the disease and recovery of health. Never has the expression “information explosion” been so true. Everyone wants to have their opinion informed. In this scenario, controversies and fraud emerge.

There is an immense and growing demand for information work, which includes its organization and management, publication, mediation, recovery and use. The desire for almost instantaneous learning poses challenges for Information Science. Seeking evidence on social isolation, case tracking, testing vaccines and medications is an almost universal need.

The reading of each of the articles we are now publishing must consider this context in which they were produced. They reflect our time, as well as the resistance and the critical effort of their authors. We hope that this creative effort inspires us to build new and better solutions to the problems we are experiencing and to guarantee social well-being for all.

Rio de Janeiro, september, 2nd, 2020

Clóvis Ricardo Montenegro de Lima

Editor