| Kommentar |
From physics to economics, models are all around us (Gelfert 2016). Models raise questions in semantics, ontology, and epistemology. But despite the diversity and flexibility of models, model-building seems to constitute a specific style of theorizing with its own skill-set, subculture, and language (Godfrey-Smith 2006). This seminar offers a philosophical picture of model-based reasoning with the aim to track the development of the perception of models in philosophy of science. We will attempt to detect similar modeling strategies across different disciplines and to explain the coherence and success of models in the face of their diversity and flexibility. During the seminar, we will try to find a demarcation criterion between different disciplines (i.e., precive versus special sciences) on the basis of the trade-offs of theoretical desiderata imposed by different target systems onto model-building attempts. Finally, we will try to see how model-based reasoning facilitates understanding and to which extent model-based theorizing differs from other styles of theorizing. |
