Inference and Representation

The first comprehensive defense of an inferential conception of scientific representation with applications to art and epistemology.
 
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. 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 and philosophical thought over the past several decades.

“Suárez’s book provides one of the most original and compelling accounts of representation to emerge thus far in the twenty-first century. His ambitious account is amenable to wide-ranging cases of cognitive representation and its minimal requirements ensure that it captures diverse cases of modelling practice across disciplines.” British Journal for the History of Science
“Suárez’s book is a richly argued model of scholarship that sets the standard for future investigations into scientific representation.”  Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
“In Inference and Representation, Suárez develops a book-length treatment of [the] inferential conception and why we should prefer it to some of its more substantive competitors. What results is a discussion that situates the conception in . . . historical context; enriches our understanding of the conception itself; and explores how it relates to and informs adjacent issues such as the structure of scientific theories, the nature of pictorial representation, and scientific epistemology in general. In doing so, it serves to coherently tie together a career’s worth of work on the nature of scientific modeling and expand that project in several intriguing ways. This is no mean feat.” BJPS Review of Books
“Brilliantly crafted, Inference and Representation excels at the difficult task of reconciling theory and practice, as it manages to bring theory back to earth and inform modeling practices in their contexts at the same time.”  Análisis
“Beautifully bringing together historical and contemporary research on representations in science with themes from aesthetics and the philosophy of art, Suárez’s book is an outstanding interdisciplinary contribution to the philosophy of science. It is essential reading for anyone interested in modeling practices, their connections with the arts, and what this insightful combination of science, art, and practice might bring to the epistemology of science.” -- Chiara Ambrosio, University College London
“Suárez has been a leading voice in the philosophy of modeling for the last two decades. This book is a wonderfully clear and compelling presentation of his ‘inferentialist theory of representation.’ The book will be a central resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and required reading for every philosopher of science.” -- Martin Kusch, University of Vienna
“Suárez has written a brilliant account of the inferential conception of scientific representation, its historical roots, and its application to contemporary scientific modeling. What stands out is his deflationist approach toward metaphysics, the streamlined account in terms of representational force and inferential capacity, and the connection to the phenomenology of artistic perception. A magnificent work.”  -- Bas C. van Fraassen, Princeton University
“Inference and Representation makes a strong case for an inferential conception of scientific modeling. It argues that the effectiveness of a model lies in its providing an orientation that facilitates fruitful scientific reasoning. It is a valuable contribution to the literature on modeling.” -- Catherine Z. Elgin, Harvard University
“This much-anticipated book is the culmination of over twenty years of pioneering work by Suárez. It is a must-read for anyone wishing to think carefully about models and representations in science. Suárez gives a careful, insightful, and comprehensive exposition and defence of his inferential conception of representation, and he now develops it in an expressly pragmatist direction with a helpful focus on the uses of models. What emerges is a compelling deflationary account of ‘representation without metaphysics,’ engaging fully with the complex realities of inferential practices. Suárez argues that common notions of representation based on similarity or isomorphism are ill-fitting and inadequate, and shows how the activity of representation pervades all sorts of scientific practices. His discussion is clear and systematic throughout, and successfully combines philosophical acuity and historical awareness. In the course of presenting his own position he also gives a fair, critical summing-up and evaluation of the considerable existing literature on models and representation. This landmark work should appeal to philosophers, historians of science and practicing scientists alike.” -- Hasok Chang, University of Cambridge
“During the past quarter-century, philosophers of science have come to appreciate the importance of models and modeling practices in the sciences. Suárez has been one of the pioneers in this work, specifically in investigating how models represent aspects of the world. The present book is the culmination of insights accumulated over more than two decades. It provides a convincing account of representation, one emphasizing the uses to which models are put and the inferences they allow. Suárez develops his views with welcome precision, focuses on an admirably wide range of types of models, and offers numerous insights about the historical development of modeling. His final two chapters explore the notion of representation more broadly, with a lucid and well-informed discussion of representation in visual art, and draw out the implications for several large issues in the philosophy of science. This book is an outstanding contribution to the field.” -- Philip Kitcher, Columbia University

Mauricio Suárez is professor of logic and philosophy of science at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, a life member at Clare Hall Cambridge, and a research associate of the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science at the London School of Economics. He is the author of Philosophy of Probability and Statistical Modelling.

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