The Philosophical Essence Of The Concept Of The Information Society And Its Stages Of Formation

Abstract

This article examines the philosophical foundations of the concept of the information society and analyzes its historical stages of formation. Drawing on classical and contemporary theories—from post-industrialism and knowledge economics to digital civilization studies—the paper argues that the information society represents not merely a technological transformation but a profound ontological and epistemological shift in how societies generate, distribute, and legitimize knowledge. The study identifies four major stages of formation: proto-informational developments, industrial–informational transition, early digitalization, and the current algorithmic–networked civilization. It concludes that the information society must be understood as a complex socio-philosophical process in which information becomes the dominant factor of social organization, human agency, and global interdependence.