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

Sartori, Lorenzo (2025) Why we love pictures (for the wrong reasons): A lesson from the picture of a black hole. Philosophy of Science.

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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: Published Article or Volume
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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: 13 Sep 2025 12:19
Last Modified: 13 Sep 2025 12:19
Item ID: 26626
Journal or Publication Title: Philosophy of Science
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
DOI or Unique Handle: 10.1017/psa.2025.10148
Subjects: General Issues > Evidence
General Issues > Models and Idealization
Date: 28 August 2025
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/26626

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