Inference and representation : a study in modeling science /

Inference and representation : a study in modeling science /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Suárez, Mauricio, author.
Imprint:Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2024.
©2024
Description:xi, 316 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Language:English
Subject:
Science -- Philosophy.
Science -- Methodology.
Representation (Philosophy)
Inference.
Knowledge, Theory of.
Inference
Knowledge, Theory of
Representation (Philosophy)
Science -- Methodology
Science -- Philosophy
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/13405379
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9780226830025
0226830020
9780226830049
0226830047
9780226830032
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:"Mauricio Suárez 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 siècle development. Throughout the book, 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, Suárez 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 practice - which also help them to assess the accuracy of their representations - while 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 Suárez's inferential conception outside scientific modeling itself, covering analogies with debates about artistic representation over the past several decades, as well as the consequences for epistemology of adopting an inferential conception of representation. His inferential conception is neutral between realism and instrumentalism, and he illustrates this by looking at, and briefly taking issue with, the epistemology of some of the most widely discussed philosophers in the literature"--
Review by Choice Review

Inference and Representation features an extensive exploration of inference and representation in science, with a particular focus on modeling, as viewed with a philosophical lens. The early chapters of the book discuss the attitude and motivations of early modelers, such as Maxwell and Helmholtz, and an exposition of a taxonomy of models. The middle chapters take a theoretical approach to their discussion of representation and its use in scientific modeling. The final chapters contrast representation in science and art and conclude with thoughts on the epistemology of scientific representation in modeling. The book is most valuable for graduate students and researchers in the philosophy of science or adjacent fields and presupposes substantial background knowledge to follow its central arguments. For those with that knowledge, the chapters are clear and well written, and the author makes a persuasive case for his thesis. Summing Up: Recommended. Enterprising advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals. --Robert A. Kolvoord, James Madison University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review

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