Between a Receptor and an Interpreter. The Role of a Concept of “Consumer” in the Theory of Model Consuming Mechanisms

Abstract

The paper discusses the role of the concept of “consumer” in the theory presented in Paweł Gładziejewski’s book Wyjaśnianie za pomocą reprezentacji mentalnych (Explaining with Mental Representations). The main claim Gładziejewski makes is that representational systems can be recognized as model consuming mechanisms. I argue that the way Gładziejewski characterizes models is insufficient (as it is still too liberal) and that it is hard to differentiate between the notion of “consumer” and that of “interpreter”. I propose an alternative way of defining consumers that is compatible with Gładziejewski’s theory and free of the issues of the original formulation.