Playing with molecules
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 42 (4):580-589 (2011)
Abstract
Recent philosophy of science has seen a number of attempts to understand scientific models by looking to theories of fiction. In previous work, I have offered an account of models that draws on Kendall Walton’s ‘make-believe’ theory of art. According to this account, models function as ‘props’ in games of make-believe, like children’s dolls or toy trucks. In this paper, I assess the make-believe view through an empirical study of molecular models. I suggest that the view gains support when we look at the way that these models are used and the attitude that users take towards them. Users’ interaction with molecular models suggests that they do imagine the models to be molecules, in much the same way that children imagine a doll to be a baby. Furthermore, I argue, users of molecular models imagine themselves viewing and manipulating molecules, just as children playing with a doll might imagine themselves looking at a baby or feeding it. Recognising this ‘participation’ in modelling, I suggest, points towards a new account of how models are used to learn about the world, and helps us to understand the value that scientists sometimes place on three-dimensional, physical models over other forms of representation.Author's Profile
DOI
10.1016/j.shpsa.2011.08.002
My notes
Similar books and articles
Models as Make-Believe: Imagination, Fiction and Scientific Representation.Adam Toon - 2012 - Palgrave-Macmillan.
Models as make-believe.Adam Toon - 2010 - In Roman Frigg & Matthew Hunter (eds.), Beyond Mimesis and Convention: Representation in Art and Science. Boston Studies in Philosophy of Science.
Models, Representation, and Mediation.Tarja Knuuttila - 2005 - Philosophy of Science 72 (5):1260-1271.
Analytics
Added to PP
2011-09-24
Downloads
621 (#15,268)
6 months
16 (#64,618)
2011-09-24
Downloads
621 (#15,268)
6 months
16 (#64,618)
Historical graph of downloads
Author's Profile
Citations of this work
The turn of the valve: representing with material models.Roman Frigg & James Nguyen - 2018 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 8 (2):205-224.
Imagination extended and embedded: artifactual versus fictional accounts of models.Tarja Knuuttila - 2017 - Synthese 198 (Suppl 21):5077-5097.
Simplified models: a different perspective on models as mediators.C. D. McCoy & Michela Massimi - 2018 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 8 (1):99-123.
References found in this work
Pretense and representation: The origins of "theory of mind.".Alan M. Leslie - 1987 - Psychological Review 94 (4):412-426.
The strategy of model-based science.Peter Godfrey-Smith - 2006 - Biology and Philosophy 21 (5):725-740.