Some Problems of System Descriptions Ii: Information

The concept of information, as a tool of objective system description, is examined. It is argued that information always has a qualitative aspect which has its origin in the relationship of the observer to the object system. As a consequence, two distinct forms of information, knowledge and action, are identified which are, however, inseparably tied to each other. A definition of information is given, which reflects this property: information is defined here as having two parts, a referential (causative) and a nonreferential (epistemic) part. Characterization of this information and its relationship to functional descriptions is given, together with a few applications.