Paradigms in Cartography

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This book reviews key trends, concepts, and directions in cartography and mapping during modernism and post-modernism, analyzing philosophical and epistemological issues from various stances, including positivist-empiricist, neo-positivist, and post-structuralist perspectives. It emphasizes the importance of technological and theoretical aspects in the development of the discipline, highlighting the epistemological and philosophical viewpoints that have shaped it. Influential philosophers such as Immanuel Kant, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Karl Popper, and Bertrand Russell are discussed, with their philosophies linked to cartographic issues, despite their lack of direct commentary on the subject (Kant being the exception). The concept of paradigm shifts, introduced by Thomas Kuhn, is explored in relation to cartographic trends that have emerged since the late twentieth century, reflecting changes within scientific and disciplinary communities. The authors also examine the role of cartography within the broader context of sciences and other disciplines, adopting a positivistic viewpoint. Furthermore, they review contemporary trends in cartography and mapping influenced by information and communication technologies within a post-modernistic or post-structuralist framework, noting that since the 1980s and 1990s, new mapping concepts have emerged that challenge traditional notions of maps.