ABSTRACT

Bringing together diverse theoretical and empirical contributions from the fields of social and cognitive psychology, philosophy and science education, this volume explores representational pluralism as a phenomenon characteristic of human cognition.

Building on these disciplines’ shared interest in understanding human thought, perception and conceptual change, the volume illustrates how representational plurality can be conducive to research and practice in varied fields. Particular care is taken to emphasize points of convergence and the value of sharing discourses, models, justifications and theories of pluralism across disciplines. The editors give ample space for philosophers, cognitive scientists and educators to explicate the history and current status of representational pluralism in their own disciplines.

Using multiple forms of research from the relational perspective, this volume will be of interest to students, scholars and researchers with an interest in cognitive psychology, as well as educational psychology and philosophy of science.

section Section 1|59 pages

Introduction

section Section 2|80 pages

Psychology

chapter 3|18 pages

Satisfying epistemic and existential needs

Representational pluralism across scientific domains

chapter 5|18 pages

Representational pluralism in the service of learning

The case of thought experiments

section Section 3|80 pages

Science education

section Section 4|81 pages

Philosophy of science

chapter 11|9 pages

More than one right answer

An introduction to the varieties of pluralism1

chapter 13|20 pages

Dissipation, integration and practical pluralism

The case of cognitive science

chapter 15|18 pages

Why pluralism?