Jill North, “On the Idea of Perspicuous Representations (and Symmetries)”
Channel: CEFISES at UCLouvain
Date: 2023-08-08

Jill North, "On the Idea of Perspicuous Representations (and Symmetries)" - Respondent: Sebastian De Haro

Abstract: There are in general many different ways of representing something. Some of these ways can be better or more perspicuous than others. I argue that perspicuous representations are such not for pragmatic or subjective reasons, but for objective, intrinsic ones. For example, one way for a representation to be more perspicuous is for it to more directly represent the symmetries of the entity being represented. One consequence I will discuss: there is an interesting sense in which representations or theoretical formulations differing (only) in their level of perspicuity can be regarded as inequivalent.