Historia y combinatoria de las representaciones científicas. Comentarios a la propuesta de Ibarra y Mormann

Abstract

Ibarra and Mormann's combinatorial theory of scientific representations is subject to critical scrutiny. It is argued that the classification of types of representations offered cannot serve as a basis for an analysis of the variety of representations that happen to arise in science. Empirical studies on ways of representing used in science strongly suggest that a formal theory of representations of the kind proposed is not able to capture the historical dimension of the structure of representations.