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THE ROLE OF TRADING ZONES IN FORMING AN INTEGRATED WORLD-PICTURE // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2019. Issue 4 (22). P. 110-125

The article aims to analyze the evolution of an integrated world-picture in the empirical subject’s mind within trading zones. The author proposes and briefly describes a typology of trading zones, including Galisonian (collaborations within and between scientific communities), Humboldtian (interactions in education), and non-Humboldtian (interactions between scientists and society). He assumes that, under certain conditions, Humboldtian and non-Humboldtian trading zones can proceed by using everyday language rather than scientific one. The translation of a scientific phenomenon’s depiction into laypeople’s language is illustrated with an example of using visual representations. The author relies on Peter Galison’s concept of trading zones, as well as on a few approaches to visual representations in science (by Russian scholars F.M. Zemlianskiy, A.I. Nikonov, and V.P. Branskiy). By elucidating the specifics of trading zones, the author discusses major conditions for the evolution of an integrated world-picture in the subject’s mind. It is shown that, nowadays, such an evolution can be possible only with rather significant approximations. Based on a peculiar artifact within a Humboldtian trading zone, the author considers an evolution of an integrated world-picture, viewing this process as largely similar to the growth of knowledge in the hypothetico-deductive model. He concludes that an integrated world-picture in a Humboldtian trading zone emerges in the mind of a tutor (transmitting information) rather than a student (receiving information), and that a similar situation can occur in non-Humboldtian trading zones. The article also provides arguments on why, despite the many difficulties, non-Humboldtian trading zones are needed, and suggests the necessity of a mediator in them. The author substantiates an idea that it is the philosopher that is most beneficial in such mediation.

Keywords: trading zone, Galisonian trading zone, Humboldtian trading zone, non-Humboldtian trading zone, integrated world-picture, visual representations