Models in biology
| Abstract | In recent years, there has much attention given by philosophers to the ubiquitous role of models and modeling in the biological sciences. Philosophical debates has focused on several areas of discussion. First, what are models in the biological sciences? The term ‘model’ is applied to mathematical structures, graphical displays, computer simulations, and even concrete organisms. Is there an account which unifies these disparate structures? Second, scientists routinely distinguish between theories and models; however, this distinction is more difficult to draw in the biological sciences since biologists often only have a variety of models and rarely have something like a fundamental theory. What then is a theory in biology? Third, how are models related to empirical or “target” systems? | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,672 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. Try with proxy. Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Only published papers are available at libraries |
Similar books and articlesDarrell P. Rowbottom (2009). Models in Biology and Physics: What's the Difference? Foundations of Science 14 (4).
Nagarjuna G. (forthcoming). Towards a Model of Life and Cognition. In B. V. Srikantan (ed.), Foundations of Science. Center for Studies in Civilizations.
Li-Kung Shaw (1982). Purposive Biology. L.K. Shaw.
Titus R. Neumann, Susanne Huber & Heinrich H. Bülthoff (2001). Artificial Systems as Models in Biological Cybernetics. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 24 (6):1071-1072.
Darrell P. Rowbottom (2011). Approximations, Idealizations and 'Experiments' at the Physics-Biology Interface. Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 42 (2):145-154.
Bruce Bridgeman (2006). It is Not Evolutionary Models, but Models in General That Social Science Needs. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 29 (4):351-352.
Jay Odenbaugh (2005). Idealized, Inaccurate but Successful: A Pragmatic Approach to Evaluating Models in Theoretical Ecology. Biology and Philosophy 20 (2-3):231-255.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads51 ( #20,517 of 549,065 )Recent downloads (6 months)5 ( #15,099 of 549,065 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
