Models, Representation, and Mediation

2005/12/01 by Tarja Knuuttila · 197 citations
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Aesthetics #Cognitive science #Computer science #Epistemology #Information Systems Theories and Implementation #Materiality (auditing) #Mediation #Philosophy #Philosophy and History of Science #Political science #Psychology #Representation (politics) #Social science #Sociology #Value (mathematics) #Wikis in Education and Collaboration

paper · doi:10.1086/508124

published in Philosophy of Science 72(5), 1260-1271 (Cambridge University Press)

openalex publication_date 2005/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

Representation has been one of the main themes in the recent discussion of models. Several authors have argued for a pragmatic approach to representation that takes users and their interpretations into account. It appears to me, however, that this emphasis on representation places excessive limitations on our view of models and their epistemic value. Models should rather be thought of as epistemic artifacts through which we gain knowledge in diverse ways. Approaching models this way stresses their materiality and media-specificity. Focusing on models as multifunctional artifacts releases them from any preestablished and fixed representational relationships and leads me to argue for a twofold approach to representation.

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