ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the historical context in which metaphors and analogies entered the philosophy of science in the 20th century is briefly outlined. The chapter shows the importance of the concept of the mathematical model in framing the way metaphors are understood as only having heuristic value in science. In such a traditional perspective, the role of analogies is subordinated and restricted to their role in models of scientific inference. Around the turn of the century, however, the relation between metaphors and models gained increasing importance, and the idea that metaphors have only heuristic value was questioned. Examples of the diverse ways in which the relation between metaphors and models is being developed in contemporary philosophy of science are then presented. The concluding section points to the relevance of current work in embodied cognition in order to advance the study of the relation between metaphors and models.
