Resumo

LIU, CHUANG. LA REPRESENTACIÓN DEL ESPACIO MEDIANTE COORDENADAS CARTESIANAS Y LA UNIDAD DE LA CIENCIA. discus.filos [online]. 2006, vol.7, n.10, pp. 17-32. ISSN 0124-6127.

In this essay, I explore a metaphor in geometry for the debate between the unity and the disunity of science, namely, the possibility of putting a global coordinate system (or a chart) on a manifold. I explain why the former is a good metaphor that shows what it means (and takes in principle) for science to be unified. I then go through some of the existing literature on the unity/disunity debate and show how the metaphor sheds light on some of the views and arguments.

Palavras-chave : Unity of science; unification; reduction; coordination; coordinate systems; chart; pluralism.