Inference and Representation (Paperback)

Paperback. The first comprehensive defense of an inferential conception of scientific representation with applications to art and epistemology. Mauricio Suarez develops a conception of representation that delivers a compelling account of modeling practice. He begins by discussing the history and methodology of model building, helpfully charting the emergence of what he calls the modeling attitude, a nineteenth-century and fin de siecle development. Prominent cases of models, both historical and contemporary, are used as benchmarks for the accounts of representation considered throughout the book. After arguing against reductive naturalist theories of scientific representation, Suarez sets out his own account: a case for pluralism regarding the means of representation and minimalism regarding its constituents. He shows that scientists employ a plurality of different modeling relations in their representational practicewhich also help them to assess the accuracy of their representationswhile demonstrating that there is nothing metaphysically deep about the constituent relation that encompasses all these diverse means. The book also probes the broad implications of Suarezs inferential conception outside scientific modeling itself, covering analogies with debates about artistic representation and philosophical thought over the past several decades. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.…