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Why we love pictures (for the wrong reasons): A lesson from the picture of a black hole

Sartori, Lorenzo (2024) Why we love pictures (for the wrong reasons): A lesson from the picture of a black hole. [Preprint]

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Abstract

In this paper, I first show that similarity accounts of scientific pictures fail with more realistic cases of scientific pictures. My primary case study is the picture of a black hole, from which I develop an interpretation-based account of picture representation analogous to how models represent: a picture represents a designated target system iff, once interpreted, it exemplifies properties that are then imputed to the target via a de-idealising function. Then, I show that justification of the inferences from pictures crucially depends on their causal mechanisms of production, in contrast with the standard justificatory strategies we employ for model inferences.

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Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Sartori, Lorenzolorenzo.sartori@imt.lucca.it0000-0002-8457-7100
Keywords: pictures, scientific representation, justification, black hole
Subjects: General Issues > Evidence
General Issues > Models and Idealization
Depositing User: Dr. Lorenzo Sartori
Date Deposited: 26 Nov 2024 14:00
Last Modified: 26 Nov 2024 14:00
Item ID: 24263
Subjects: General Issues > Evidence
General Issues > Models and Idealization
Date: 2024
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/24263

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