[MD] what is a good metaphysic?

[X Acto]

 What Is a Good Map?
If cartography is a form of communication, the measure of a good map is 
how well it conveys information to its readers to enlighten, convince, 
or persuade. Too often the pure aesthetic appeal of a map is equated 
with its communicational value. Aesthetic issues certainly play a role 
in effective cartography, but it is the issue of communication that holds 
the central role in cartographic design. To ask "what is a good map?" is 
to ask how well it communicates with its audience. 
This means that one always begins a project by considering the message to 
be conveyed and the audience to be addressed. This raises a series of 
questions that must be addresses at the start of a project: 

3.1 What is the motive, intent, or goal of the map? 
In effect, the question asks what the reader should gain from the map or 
how the reader should respond. Motives vary greatly. Many maps are intended 
solely to convey accurate information about spatial relationships, others 
to sway public debate. Obviously, the motive will have a great bearing on 
the content of the map (the information included) and its form 
(the cartographic strategies employed). 

3.2 Who will read the map? 
A cartographer must be able to identify the type of reader being addressed 
for two principal reasons. First, it is important to have an idea about what 
the audience is likely to know about the subject matter of the map. Second, 
it is useful to know how much background the readers have in using maps. 
A map intended for specialists who have a background in cartography might 
be organized far differently than one intended for use as a prop in a 
public debate.
 
3.3 Where will the map be used? 
An audience is always addressed within a particular context or frame of 
reference which has a bearing on map design. Maps may be published alone, 
or in newspapers, magazines, journals, books, or atlases. They may appear 
in reports, term papers, theses, and dissertations. They may be used in 
lectures, briefings, presentations, speeches, and announcements. Some maps 
are used only once and then discarded. Others are intended to used for 
reference for decades or centuries. For these reasons, context can influence 
both the form and content of a map in ways both great and small. 

3.4 What data is available for the composition of the map? 
Decisions about map design are tempered greatly by source materials 
themselves, by what is available and how easily it can be communicated. 
Sometimes our source materials have limitations or are incomplete. 
They may present special problems of presentation because of technical 
terminology or because of the quantities of detail required to make a point. 
Some data needs to be qualified. These limitations must be considered from 
the very start of a project so that they can be addressed in the design of 
the map. 
http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/cartocom/cartocom_f.html