Shell games,information, and counterfactuals

Cohen and Meskin 2006 Cohen, Jonathan and Aaron, Meskin. 2006. An Objective Counterfactual Theory of Information. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 84: 333–352. Taylor &; Francis Online], Web of Science ®] , Google Scholar] have recently proposed a novel counterfactual account of information. I argue that it is a step down from its intended target, namely Dretske's 1981 Dretske, Fred. 1981. Knowledge and the Flow of Information, Cambridge Mass: MIT Press.  Google Scholar] theory of information. Thinking of the information carried by signals in terms of counterfactuals leads to falsely diagnosing bona fide instances of information transmission as not being instances of information transmission at all, with major loss of explanatory power.