The persistent metaphysical trace of prior causation, part one: a foundational theory of information

This paper develops a foundational theory of information as the persistent trace of prior causation, realised as a trajectory within transformation space. The theory is predicated on the minimal assumption that information exists. From that assumption it derives the conditions required for informational existence, and recursively redescribes them through relation, scale, transformation, subjectivity, and intersubjectivity. Although the paper is narrow in scope, its potential reach is broad. This is because information functions as an implicit or explicit foundational concept across contemporary theoretical discourse. This reach does not indicate the unrestricted breadth of the theory, but the significance of the concept it addresses and the degree to which that concept remains under-theorised. The paper uses a derivational approach from minimal assumptions under methodological, ontological, and epistemological constraint. Its major findings concern the nature of information as trace, the emergence of meaning through the actualisation of inferential potential, and the significance of information as a critical and theoretical concept. The paper is situated within the information science tradition, but has relevance across disciplines in which information functions as a foundational concept.