Modeling and Realism

Abstract

The practice of modeling involves intentional deviations from completeness and accuracy, such as idealization and abstraction. At first glance, modeling appears to be in tension with realism. This chapter discusses whether this tension is real or merely apparent. I first look at whether modeling conflicts with a realist understanding of the aims of science – roughly, that science aims (inter alia) to discover truths about the world. I then ask whether modeling conflicts with realist claims about the achievements of science – roughly, that science often succeeds in the aforementioned aim, providing knowledge. I suggest several ways for reconciling these tensions, noting questions and issues that remain to be worked out. In closing, I discuss whether modeling challenges the validity of the method of inference to the best explanation.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 13 citations exist upstream.