Self-Knowledge and Self-Representation

In th is paper I introduce a contrast between homomorphic and non-homomorphic ascript ions of informational content to representations. In the former case there is a mapping from the parts of the representation onto the constituents of the content. In the l a t t e r case, there is not; some of the constituents of the content are set t led bj background factors. I contrast th is d i s t i nc t i on with that between context dependent and context independent ascript ions of content. I note that in cases where the ascriber of content shares the background with the agent, one is inc l ined to ascribe homomorphic content of a sort that does not have a f ixed truth-value to a representation. This leads to the notion of re la t ive information. Some uses for re la t i ve information are noted. F ina l l y , the d is t inc t ions developed are used to d ist inguish three types of self-knowledge and account fo r the i r re la t ions. I HOMOMORPHIC AND NON-HOMOMORPHIC