The aim of this work is to bring together the contemporary understanding of non-equilibrium thermodynamics and Information theory built from the large-deviations scaling derivation of the Shannon-Gibbs entropy with the critique of Cartesian rationality and theory of embodied selfhood presented by the French and German phenomenological philosophical traditions. These two very different intellectual resources work together to provide an account of the emergence of and relations between objects and subjects along with the conditions required for their stability. Information and meaning are distinguished and we present a definition of meaningful information which relies on the inferential capcity of dynamical systems interacting repeatedly with a fluctuating environment. We then trace the origin of the question regarding the emergence of intentionality to the problem of Cartesian dualism, and argue that the very same anthropic principle which underlies the intuition of the Cogito is also, when applied to itself, the explanation for the illusion of the certainty of the Cogito. Finally, we end with a plea for accepting the relative instability of selfhood as a condition of understanding and accepting our emergent humanity.
Joseph Murphy Brisendine