Life's Complex Specified Information Is a Kind of Value.
In this article, we argue that complex specified information (CSI) is an important feature of life and a kind of value that all life instantiates. In support of our first thesis, we demonstrate that life's CSI operates at three interacting levels: cosmic fine-tuning for a life-supportive environment...
| Publicado en: | Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science Vol. 61; no. 2; pp. 468 - 496 |
|---|---|
| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Open Library of Humanities
Jun2026
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=195317171&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 195317171 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 05912385 ZYG jtl: Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science issn: 05912385 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jun2026 vid: 61 iid: 2 pid: 15576 pub: Open Library of Humanities artinfo: ui: 195317171 10.16995/zygon.24416 ppf: 468 ppct: 28 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 808KB tig: atl: Life's Complex Specified Information Is a Kind of Value. aug: au: Keas, Michael N. Gould, Paul M. affil: Independent Scholar, Muldrow, OK, USA Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Director of the Master of Arts in Philosophy of Religion Program, Palm Beach Atlantic University, West Palm Beach, FL, USA su: Information theory Biological systems Physical cosmology Genetic code Epigenetics Values (Ethics) sug: subj: Information theory Biological systems Physical cosmology Genetic code Epigenetics Values (Ethics) ab: In this article, we argue that complex specified information (CSI) is an important feature of life and a kind of value that all life instantiates. In support of our first thesis, we demonstrate that life's CSI operates at three interacting levels: cosmic fine-tuning for a life-supportive environment; genetic and epigenetic information within biological life; and the capacity of intelligent life to detect and create CSI. In support of our second thesis—that life's CSI is a type of value—we demonstrate that life's CSI shares traits (normativity, rarity, and gradedness) in common with the three classical values: epistemic, moral, and aesthetic. We suggest a value theory (axiology) research program guided by the hypothesis that value itself is best understood as (primarily) normative rarity. We show how this approach to axiology can be guided by perspectives derived from the integration of cosmology, biology, and information theory. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science is the property of Open Library of Humanities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science holder: Open Library of Humanities dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|