Abstract of a paper presented at the Philosophy of Science meetings fall 2000, to appear in Philosophy of Science (copyright PSA)
by Sergio Sismondo and Nicholas Chrisman
Abstract: "Scientific theories are maps of the natural world." This metaphor is often used as part of a deflationary argument for a weak but relatively global version of scientific realism, a version that recognizes the place of conventions, goals, and contingencies in scientific representations, while maintaining that they are typically true in a clear and literal sense. By examining, in a naturalistic way, some relationships between maps and what they map, we question the scope and value of realist construals of maps - and by extension of scientific representations. Deflationary philosophy of science requires more variegated stances.