Theories and models

the interactive view

Robin Findlay Hendry

pp. 121-130

in: Ray Paton, Irene Neilson (eds), Visual representations and interpretations, Berlin, Springer, 1999

Abstract

The semantic view of theories presents theories as families of models. I argue that while the semantic view has helped to make important insights into physical theorising, it tends to obscure the complex nature of theories, which may combine elements from different representational media. I explore this claim in the context of three short case studies.