We Don't Need a Philosophy of Library and Information Science--We're Confused Enough Already

Is there a philosophy of library and information science? The thesis presented here is that there is not, and we do not need one. That is, we do not need, nor do we have, one single philosophy, to either fill a philosophical vacuum, or to replace an existing philosophy. Instead, we need to find a way to manage a confusion, a "fused together" mass of many contradictory ideas, in order to do useful things, and to be helpful to our patrons. This search amounts to a philosophical discussion about why librarians and information scientists do not need a philosophy. The discussion shows how to handle this kind of contradiction and shows that for librarians and information scientists, a "con-fusion" of ideas is worth seeking, rather than resolving.