Scopes of Paradigms in Cartography

Abstract

This chapter discusses the results obtained through the use of the criteria of contrast and the tendency distribution in the epistemological space, which were applied to the cartographic tendencies treated in the previous chapter “Possibilities of paradigms in cartography”. First, some paradigmatic tendencies in cartography are analysed according to the criteria of contrast. The denomination of explicit and implicit paradigms and tendencies made by various authors during contemporary cartographic development is also investigated. Second, the transition from the scientific-empirical period to critical cartography is explained through the discussion of the works of representative thinkers of modernism and post-modernism. Here, the body of knowledge in the discipline is highlighted. Subsequently, post-representational cartography is proposed as a paradigmatic trend (in ontological terms) in comparison to traditional representational cartography. Then an attempt to categorise cartographic tendencies is made, considering three epistemological levels: scientific (essentialist), sociological (constructed), and ontological (emergent). As a result, the paradigmatic cartographic tendencies, the scientific-empirical and critical paradigms, and the representational and post-representational paradigms in cartography are proposed (cf. Azócar 2012). Finally, a return to Kuhn’s thought is used to analyse the scope and limitations for cartography’s own paradigms: In Kuhnian terms, cartography is a multi-disciplinary field with several internal paradigms, but its consolidation through a real revolutionary change depends on the persuasive power of the cartographic community in its social-scientific context.