Found Sci DOI 10.1007/s10699-014-9345-3 Misrepresentation in Context Woosuk Park © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014 Abstract We can witness the recent surge of interest in the interaction between cognitive science, philosophy of science, and aesthetics on the problem of representation. This naturally leads us to rethinking the achievements of Goodman’s monumental book Languages of Art. For, there is no doubt that no one else contributed more than Goodman to throw a light on the cognitive function of art. Ironically, it could be also Goodman who has been the stumbling block for a unified theory of representation. In this paper, I shall contrast the ways how differently misrepresentation has been treated in cognitive science, aesthetics, and philosophy of science. And I shall show that it is Goodman’s unnecessary separation of resemblance and representation in art that made such a difference. As a conclusion, I will indicate some of the most promising projects toward the unified theory of representation the revolt against Goodman’s rejection of resemblance theories might promise to us. Keywords Caricature · Goodman · Idealization · Misrepresentation · Resemblance 1 Introduction We can witness the recent surge of interest in the interaction between cognitive science, philosophy of science, and aesthetics on the problem of representation. Mark Rollins believe that, insofar as most of the theories of pictorial representation explain depiction in terms of perception, there “aesthetics and cognitive science meet” (Rollins 1999, 388). Stephen M. Downes even thinks that many of the “arguments from aesthetics can be used against accounts of representation in philosophy of science” (Downes 2009, 417). Encouraged by this somewhat unexpected interaction between cognitive science, philosophy of science and aesthetics, one might want to discuss the problem of mental representation together, thereby aiming at a unified theory of representation. W. Park (B ) Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Cultural Science, KAIST, 373-1 Guseong Dong, Yuseong Gu, Daejeon 305-701, South Korea e-mail: woosukpark@kaist.ac.kr 123