Telling instances

Catherine Z. Elgin

pp. 1-17

in: Roman Frigg, Matthew C. Hunter (eds), Beyond mimesis and convention, Berlin, Springer, 2010

Abstract

Science, we are told, is (or at least aspires to be) a mirror of nature, while art imitates life. If so, both disciplines produce, or hope to produce, representations that reflect the way the mind-independent world is. Scientific representations are supposed to be complete, accurate, precise and distortion-free. Although artistic representations are granted more leeway, they too are supposed to resemble their subjects. Underlying these clichés is the widespread conviction that representations are intentional surrogates for, or replicas of, their objects. If so, a representation should resemble its referent.