Inference and Representation

Inference and Representation by Mauricio Suárez develops a conception of representation that delivers a compelling account of modelling practice. He begins by discussing the history and methodology of model building, helpfully charting the emergence of what he calls the modelling 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 modelling 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 modelling itself, covering analogies with debates about artistic representation and philosophical thought over the past several decades.