Information, evolution, and change

The basic premise of this paper is that the ethicality of systems can be improved by placing them on a more solid informational foundation. Information, evolution, and change are seen to be integrally related. An information typology of nonreferential, referential, and state-referential information is proposed to handle the ontological, epistemological, and teleological aspects of systems. These information types have a particular entailment relationship to each other. The typology and entailment ordering are seen as having important consequences for the design of social systems.