[Source:] Arguments that appeal to ignorance rely merely on the fact that the veracity of the proposition is not disproven to arrive at a definite conclusion. These arguments fail to appreciate that the limits of one's understanding or certainty do not change what is true. They do not inform upon reality. That is, whatever the reality is, it does not "wait" upon human logic or analysis to be formulated. Reality exists at all times, and it exists independently of what is in the mind of anyone.
I am guessing OED Online's Definition 8b as the apt definition for inform in the foregoing:
III. 8b. Of a quality, principle, etc.: to be the determinant principle of; to give a thing its essential quality or character; to inspire, animate; to pervade. In later use more generally: (of an experience, etc.) to influence, to affect.
Yet OED appears mum on inform upon. So what are the similarities and differences? What would happen if upon were omitted here?
I know that as prepositions, upon = on.
Best Answer
It is an archaic meaning of "inform" in the sense "to create an impression on something", like a fingerprint on moist clay.
This trope, a commonplace in philosophical writing, would ultimately go back, I think, to medieval scholasticism at the intersection of metaphysics and epistemology (and from there back to Aristotle); the "form" of something was its essence, that which made it to be what it was. Does the mind go out and alter that which it knows? Or does that which is known create impressions on the mind? Yadda yadda yadda.
They (the limits of our understanding) do not create an impression on reality. They do not change reality.