Pictures as epistemic tools

Autores

  • Axel Arturo Barceló Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/S1678-31662016000100004

Palavras-chave:

Representation. Euclidean diagrams. Photo finish. Scientific images. Interpretation. Ergonomics. Photography. Models. Depiction. Visual inference

Resumo

The goal of this article is to lay some foundational groundwork in the study of epistemic representations in general, and visual epistemic representations in particular. To this goal, I introduce three helpful and closely related distinctions: The first one is a distinction between the constraints imposed on a tool by the task it is intended to help perform, and the constraints imposed by its intended user. The second is a distinction between a representation’s narrow representational function (to represent something), and its wider purpose, which could be epistemic, aesthetic etc. Finally, the third one is a distinction between interpreting and applying a representation, that is, between determining how things are according to the representation, and determining whether things actually are as they are represented to be. I illustrate the usefulness of these distinctions by applying them to a couple of examples: a case of photo finish and a diagram of Euclidean Geometry

Biografia do Autor

  • Axel Arturo Barceló, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas
    Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Publicado

2016-06-06

Edição

Seção

Artigos