What does it mean to understand something? What types of understanding can be distinguished? Is understanding always provided by explanations? And how is it related to knowledge? Such questions have attracted considerable interest in epistemology recently. These discussions, however, have not yet engaged insights about explanations and theories developed in philosophy of science. Conversely, philosophers of science have debated the nature of explanations and theories, while dismissing understanding as a psychological by-product.

In this book, epistemologists and...

Presenting a new approach to image theory, these essays explore the many ways images become 'active' in architecture and engineering design processes, capturing the array of 'actions' that images perform, from representation to communication. It investigates many types of images in many media, including imaginary, and how their 'actions' can vary.