The presentation of objects and the representation of structure

Steven French

pp. 3-28

in: Elaine Landry, Dean P. Rickles (eds), Structural realism, Berlin, Springer, 2012

Abstract

The rise and development of various forms of structuralism (including structural realism and structural empiricism) has seen a concomitant array of diverse representations of structure placed on the table, from Ramsey sentences and mathematical equations, to the group-, set- and category-theoretic [35, 36]. This diversity has contributed to the confusion over what is intended by 'structure", particularly in the debate between realists and anti-realists and my intention in this paper is to help clarify the situation by drawing on Brading and Landry's distinction between the presentation of putative objects via the relevant 'shared structure" that our theories make available and the representation of such objects (as features of the world) by those theories.