Generalización y simetría: Una discusión sobre su utilidad conceptual para el estudio de fenómenos heterogéneos

Jorge Vergara-Vidal

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Generalization and symmetry

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Jorge Vergara-Vidal Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7712-4090

No. 83 (2025): September

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Abstract

This paper explores the usefulness of the notions of generalization and symmetry as conceptual resources for studying heterogeneous phenomena. It discusses the utility of these notions for describing the behavior of similarity and equivalence of values within the plurality of cases that constitute the existence of a phenomenon over time and, with this, whether their modes of enunciation mark milestones within extended or broad processes. The text reviews the definitions surrounding the notions of plurality, generalization, and symmetry between cases, used both in philosophy and in social studies of science and technology; it exposes the controversies surrounding the generalization of symmetry proposed by Michel Callon; and it discusses the relevance of these solutions for the analysis of broad sociotechnical processes. It concludes that the notions explored not only serve to represent plurality in broad processes but are also complementary in describing the regimes of similarity and equivalence that they organize.

Keywords:

plurality , generalization , symmetry

How to Cite

Vergara-Vidal, J. (2025). Generalization and symmetry: A discussion of their conceptual usefulness for the study of heterogeneous phenomena. Cinta De Moebio. Revista De Epistemología De Ciencias Sociales, (83). Retrieved from https://cintademoebio.uchile.cl/index.php/CDM/article/view/82143