Models And Methods In The Philosophy Of Science

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Scientific Models in Philosophy of Science

Author : Daniela M. Bailer-Jones
Publisher : University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN 13 : 0822971232
Total Pages : 252 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (229 download)

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Book Synopsis Scientific Models in Philosophy of Science by : Daniela M. Bailer-Jones

Download or read book Scientific Models in Philosophy of Science written by Daniela M. Bailer-Jones and published by University of Pittsburgh Pre. This book was released on 2009-09-13 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientists have used models for hundreds of years as a means of describing phenomena and as a basis for further analogy. In Scientific Models in Philosophy of Science, Daniela Bailer-Jones assembles an original and comprehensive philosophical analysis of how models have been used and interpreted in both historical and contemporary contexts. Bailer-Jones delineates the many forms models can take (ranging from equations to animals; from physical objects to theoretical constructs), and how they are put to use. She examines early mechanical models employed by nineteenth-century physicists such as Kelvin and Maxwell, describes their roots in the mathematical principles of Newton and others, and compares them to contemporary mechanistic approaches. Bailer-Jones then views the use of analogy in the late nineteenth century as a means of understanding models and to link different branches of science. She reveals how analogies can also be models themselves, or can help to create them. The first half of the twentieth century saw little mention of models in the literature of logical empiricism. Focusing primarily on theory, logical empiricists believed that models were of temporary importance, flawed, and awaiting correction. The later contesting of logical empiricism, particularly the hypothetico-deductive account of theories, by philosophers such as Mary Hesse, sparked a renewed interest in the importance of models during the 1950s that continues to this day. Bailer-Jones analyzes subsequent propositions of: models as metaphors; Kuhn's concept of a paradigm; the Semantic View of theories; and the case study approaches of Cartwright and Morrison, among others. She then engages current debates on topics such as phenomena versus data, the distinctions between models and theories, the concepts of representation and realism, and the discerning of falsities in models.

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Methodology

Author : Herman Cappelen
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199668779
Total Pages : 769 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (996 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Methodology by : Herman Cappelen

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Methodology written by Herman Cappelen and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 769 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the most comprehensive book ever published on philosophical methodology. A team of thirty-eight of the world's leading philosophers present original essays on various aspects of how philosophy should be and is done. The first part is devoted to broad traditions and approaches to philosophical methodology (including logical empiricism, phenomenology, and ordinary language philosophy). The entries in the second part address topics in philosophical methodology, such as intuitions, conceptual analysis, and transcendental arguments. The third part of the book is devoted to essays about the interconnections between philosophy and neighbouring fields, including those of mathematics, psychology, literature and film, and neuroscience.

Models and Methods in the Philosophy of Science: Selected Essays

Author : Patrick Suppes
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9401723001
Total Pages : 506 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (17 download)

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Book Synopsis Models and Methods in the Philosophy of Science: Selected Essays by : Patrick Suppes

Download or read book Models and Methods in the Philosophy of Science: Selected Essays written by Patrick Suppes and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-14 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The thirty-one papers collected in this volume represent most of the arti cles that I have published in the philosophy of science and related founda tional areas of science since 1970. The present volume is a natural succes sor to Studies in the Methodology and Foundations of Science, a collection of my articles published in 1969 by Reidel (now a part of Kluwer). The articles are arranged under five main headings. Part I contains six articles on general methodology. The topics range from formal methods to the plurality of science. Part II contains six articles on causality and explanation. The emphasis is almost entirely on probabilistic approaches. Part III contains six articles on probability and measurement. The impor tance of representation theorems for both probability and measurement is stressed. Part IV contains five articles on the foundations of physics. The first three articles are concerned with action at a distance and space and time, the last two with quantum mechanics. Part V contains eight articles on the foundations of psychology. This is the longest part and the articles reflect my continuing strong interest in the nature of learning and perception. Within each part the articles are arranged chronologically. I turn now to a more detailed overview of the content. The first article of Part I concerns the role of formal methods in the philosophy of science. Here I discuss what is the new role for formal methods now that the imperialism of logical positivism has disappeared.

Models and Theories

Author : Roman Frigg
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1000609537
Total Pages : 508 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (6 download)

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Book Synopsis Models and Theories by : Roman Frigg

Download or read book Models and Theories written by Roman Frigg and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-06-28 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Models and theories are of central importance in science, and scientists spend substantial amounts of time building, testing, comparing and revising models and theories. It is therefore not surprising that the nature of scientific models and theories has been a widely debated topic within the philosophy of science for many years. The product of two decades of research, this book provides an accessible yet critical introduction to the debates about models and theories within analytical philosophy of science since the 1920s. Roman Frigg surveys and discusses key topics and questions, including: What are theories? What are models? And how do models and theories relate to each other? The linguistic view of theories (also known as the syntactic view of theories), covering different articulations of the view, its use of models, the theory-observation divide and the theory-ladenness of observation, and the meaning of theoretical terms. The model-theoretical view of theories (also known as the semantic view of theories), covering its analysis of the model-world relationship, the internal structure of a theory, and the ontology of models. Scientific representation, discussing analogy, idealisation and different accounts of representation. Modelling in scientific practice, examining how models relate to theories and what models are, classifying different kinds of models, and investigating how robustness analysis, perspectivism, and approaches committed to uncertainty-management deal with multi-model situations. Models and Theories is the first comprehensive book-length treatment of the topic, making it essential reading for advanced undergraduates, researchers, and professional philosophers working in philosophy of science and philosophy of technology. It will also be of interest to philosophically minded readers working in physics, computer sciences and STEM fields more broadly.

How to Do Science with Models

Author : Axel Gelfert
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319279548
Total Pages : 144 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (192 download)

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Book Synopsis How to Do Science with Models by : Axel Gelfert

Download or read book How to Do Science with Models written by Axel Gelfert and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-12-21 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taking scientific practice as its starting point, this book charts the complex territory of models used in science. It examines what scientific models are and what their function is. Reliance on models is pervasive in science, and scientists often need to construct models in order to explain or predict anything of interest at all. The diversity of kinds of models one finds in science – ranging from toy models and scale models to theoretical and mathematical models – has attracted attention not only from scientists, but also from philosophers, sociologists, and historians of science. This has given rise to a wide variety of case studies that look at the different uses to which models have been put in specific scientific contexts. By exploring current debates on the use and building of models via cutting-edge examples drawn from physics and biology, the book provides broad insight into the methodology of modelling in the natural sciences. It pairs specific arguments with introductory material relating to the ontology and the function of models, and provides some historical context to the debates as well as a sketch of general positions in the philosophy of scientific models in the process.

Models of Discovery

Author : Herbert A. Simon
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9401095213
Total Pages : 471 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (1 download)

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Book Synopsis Models of Discovery by : Herbert A. Simon

Download or read book Models of Discovery written by Herbert A. Simon and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 471 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We respect Herbert A. Simon as an established leader of empirical and logical analysis in the human sciences while we happily think of him as also the loner; of course he works with many colleagues but none can match him. He has been writing fruitfully and steadily for four decades in many fields, among them psychology, logic, decision theory, economics, computer science, management, production engineering, information and control theory, operations research, confirmation theory, and we must have omitted several. With all of them, he is at once the technical scientist and the philosophical critic and analyst. When writing of decisions and actions, he is at the interface of philosophy of science, decision theory, philosophy of the specific social sciences, and inventory theory (itself, for him, at the interface of economic theory, production engineering and information theory). When writing on causality, he is at the interface of methodology, metaphysics, logic and philosophy of physics, systems theory, and so on. Not that the interdisciplinary is his orthodoxy; we are delighted that he has chosen to include in this book both his early and little-appreciated treatment of straightforward philosophy of physics - the axioms of Newtonian mechanics, and also his fine papers on pure confirmation theory.

Theories of Scientific Method

Author : Robert Nola
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317493486
Total Pages : 343 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (174 download)

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Book Synopsis Theories of Scientific Method by : Robert Nola

Download or read book Theories of Scientific Method written by Robert Nola and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-12-18 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is it to be scientific? Is there such a thing as scientific method? And if so, how might such methods be justified? Robert Nola and Howard Sankey seek to provide answers to these fundamental questions in their exploration of the major recent theories of scientific method. Although for many scientists their understanding of method is something they just pick up in the course of being trained, Nola and Sankey argue that it is possible to be explicit about what this tacit understanding of method is, rather than leave it as some unfathomable mystery. They robustly defend the idea that there is such a thing as scientific method and show how this might be legitimated. This book begins with the question of what methodology might mean and explores the notions of values, rules and principles, before investigating how methodologists have sought to show that our scientific methods are rational. Part 2 of this book sets out some principles of inductive method and examines its alternatives including abduction, IBE, and hypothetico-deductivism. Part 3 introduces probabilistic modes of reasoning, particularly Bayesianism in its various guises, and shows how it is able to give an account of many of the values and rules of method. Part 4 considers the ideas of philosophers who have proposed distinctive theories of method such as Popper, Lakatos, Kuhn and Feyerabend and Part 5 continues this theme by considering philosophers who have proposed naturalised theories of method such as Quine, Laudan and Rescher. This book offers readers a comprehensive introduction to the idea of scientific method and a wide-ranging discussion of how historians of science, philosophers of science and scientists have grappled with the question over the last fifty years.

Method, Model and Matter

Author : Mario BUNGE
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 9789401025218
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (252 download)

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Book Synopsis Method, Model and Matter by : Mario BUNGE

Download or read book Method, Model and Matter written by Mario BUNGE and published by Springer. This book was released on 2011-11-05 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of essays deals with three clusters of problems in the philo sophy of science: scientific method, conceptual models, and ontological underpinnings. The disjointedness of topics is more apparent than real, since the whole book is concerned with the scientific knowledge of fact. Now, the aim of factual knowledge is the conceptual grasping of being, and this understanding is provided by theories of whatever there may be. If the theories are testable and specific, such as a theory of a particular chemical reaction, then they are often called 'theoretical models' and clas sed as scientific. If the theories are extremely general, like a theory of syn thesis and dissociation without any reference to a particular kind of stuff, then they may be called 'metaphysical' - as well as 'scientific' if they are consonant with science. Between these two extremes there is a whole gamut of kinds of factual theories. Thus the entire spectrum should be dominated by the scientific method, quite irrespective of the subject matter. This is the leitmotiv of the present book. The introductory chapter, on method in the philosophy of science, tackles the question 'Why don't scientists listen to their philosophers?'.

Empirical Philosophy of Science

Author : Susann Wagenknecht
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319186000
Total Pages : 170 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (191 download)

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Book Synopsis Empirical Philosophy of Science by : Susann Wagenknecht

Download or read book Empirical Philosophy of Science written by Susann Wagenknecht and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-06-12 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book examines the emerging approach of using qualitative methods, such as interviews and field observations, in the philosophy of science. Qualitative methods are gaining popularity among philosophers of science as more and more scholars are resorting to empirical work in their study of scientific practices. At the same time, the results produced through empirical work are quite different from those gained through the kind of introspective conceptual analysis more typical of philosophy. This volume explores the benefits and challenges of an empirical philosophy of science and addresses questions such as: What do philosophers gain from empirical work? How can empirical research help to develop philosophical concepts? How do we integrate philosophical frameworks and empirical research? What constraints do we accept when choosing an empirical approach? What constraints does a pronounced theoretical focus impose on empirical work? Nine experts discuss their thoughts and empirical results in the chapters of this book with the aim of providing readers with an answer to these questions.

General Philosophy of Science: Focal Issues

Author :
Publisher : Elsevier
ISBN 13 : 0080548547
Total Pages : 713 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (85 download)

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Book Synopsis General Philosophy of Science: Focal Issues by :

Download or read book General Philosophy of Science: Focal Issues written by and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2007-07-18 with total page 713 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientists use concepts and principles that are partly specific for their subject matter, but they also share part of them with colleagues working in different fields. Compare the biological notion of a 'natural kind' with the general notion of 'confirmation' of a hypothesis by certain evidence. Or compare the physical principle of the 'conservation of energy' and the general principle of 'the unity of science'. Scientists agree that all such notions and principles aren't as crystal clear as one might wish. An important task of the philosophy of the special sciences, such as philosophy of physics, of biology and of economics, to mention only a few of the many flourishing examples, is the clarification of such subject specific concepts and principles. Similarly, an important task of 'general' philosophy of science is the clarification of concepts like 'confirmation' and principles like 'the unity of science'. It is evident that clarfication of concepts and principles only makes sense if one tries to do justice, as much as possible, to the actual use of these notions by scientists, without however following this use slavishly. That is, occasionally a philosopher may have good reasons for suggesting to scientists that they should deviate from a standard use. Frequently, this amounts to a plea for differentiation in order to stop debates at cross-purposes due to the conflation of different meanings. While the special volumes of the series of Handbooks of the Philosophy of Science address topics relative to a specific discipline, this general volume deals with focal issues of a general nature. After an editorial introduction about the dominant method of clarifying concepts and principles in philosophy of science, called explication, the first five chapters deal with the following subjects. Laws, theories, and research programs as units of empirical knowledge (Theo Kuipers), various past and contemporary perspectives on explanation (Stathis Psillos), the evaluation of theories in terms of their virtues (Ilkka Niiniluto), and the role of experiments in the natural sciences, notably physics and biology (Allan Franklin), and their role in the social sciences, notably economics (Wenceslao Gonzalez). In the subsequent three chapters there is even more attention to various positions and methods that philosophers of science and scientists may favor: ontological, epistemological, and methodological positions (James Ladyman), reduction, integration, and the unity of science as aims in the sciences and the humanities (William Bechtel and Andrew Hamilton), and logical, historical and computational approaches to the philosophy of science (Atocha Aliseda and Donald Gillies).The volume concludes with the much debated question of demarcating science from nonscience (Martin Mahner) and the rich European-American history of the philosophy of science in the 20th century (Friedrich Stadler). Comprehensive coverage of the philosophy of science written by leading philosophers in this field Clear style of writing for an interdisciplinary audience No specific pre-knowledge required

Models and Theories

Author : Roman Frigg
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781844654901
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (549 download)

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Book Synopsis Models and Theories by : Roman Frigg

Download or read book Models and Theories written by Roman Frigg and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As scientists spend a substantial part of their time building, testing, comparing and revising theories or models, it is no surprise that the nature of theories and models is a subject of central importance within the philosophy of science. This book provides a critical survey of, and introduction to, the debates surrounding theories and models within analytical philosophy of science. It combines coverage of standard topics such as the syntactic and semantic views of theories as well as ones less often discussed in connection with models and theories but which nevertheless are shown to have a clear bearing on the topic, such as Munich structuralism, thought experiments, the applicability of mathematics in the empirical sciences and measurement theory. The book begins with an exposition of the problems that any tenable account of theories and models has to come to terms with and this serves as the background against which the positions discussed in the book are assessed and evaluated. This book provides a clearly structured and systematic introduction to a field, which, due to its richness and complexity, is difficult to master, and by focusing our attention oncentral issues and by examining where we stand on these, it also lays bare lacunas in the literature and points to future directions of research.

Interdisciplinarity in the Making

Author : Nancy J. Nersessian
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262544660
Total Pages : 393 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (625 download)

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Book Synopsis Interdisciplinarity in the Making by : Nancy J. Nersessian

Download or read book Interdisciplinarity in the Making written by Nancy J. Nersessian and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2022-11-22 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A cognitive ethnography of how bioengineering scientists create innovative modeling methods. In this first full-scale, long-term cognitive ethnography by a philosopher of science, Nancy J. Nersessian offers an account of how scientists at the interdisciplinary frontiers of bioengineering create novel problem-solving methods. Bioengineering scientists model complex dynamical biological systems using concepts, methods, materials, and other resources drawn primarily from engineering. They aim to understand these systems sufficiently to control or intervene in them. What Nersessian examines here is how cutting-edge bioengineering scientists integrate the cognitive, social, material, and cultural dimensions of practice. Her findings and conclusions have broad implications for researchers in philosophy, science studies, cognitive science, and interdisciplinary studies, as well as scientists, educators, policy makers, and funding agencies. In studying the epistemic practices of scientists, Nersessian pushes the boundaries of the philosophy of science and cognitive science into areas not ventured before. She recounts a decades-long, wide-ranging, and richly detailed investigation of the innovative interdisciplinary modeling practices of bioengineering researchers in four university laboratories. She argues and demonstrates that the methods of cognitive ethnography and qualitative data analysis, placed in the framework of distributed cognition, provide the tools for a philosophical analysis of how scientific discoveries arise from complex systems in which the cognitive, social, material, and cultural dimensions of problem-solving are integrated into the epistemic practices of scientists. Specifically, she looks at how interdisciplinary environments shape problem-solving. Although Nersessian’s case material is drawn from the bioengineering sciences, her analytic framework and methodological approach are directly applicable to scientific research in a broader, more general sense, as well.

Model-Based Reasoning in Scientific Discovery

Author : L. Magnani
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9780306462924
Total Pages : 366 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (629 download)

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Book Synopsis Model-Based Reasoning in Scientific Discovery by : L. Magnani

Download or read book Model-Based Reasoning in Scientific Discovery written by L. Magnani and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1999-10-31 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The volume is based on the papers that were presented at the Interna tional Conference Model-Based Reasoning in Scientific Discovery (MBR'98), held at the Collegio Ghislieri, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, in December 1998. The papers explore how scientific thinking uses models and explanatory reasoning to produce creative changes in theories and concepts. The study of diagnostic, visual, spatial, analogical, and temporal rea soning has demonstrated that there are many ways of performing intelligent and creative reasoning that cannot be described with the help only of tradi tional notions of reasoning such as classical logic. Traditional accounts of scientific reasoning have restricted the notion of reasoning primarily to de ductive and inductive arguments. Understanding the contribution of model ing practices to discovery and conceptual change in science requires ex panding scientific reasoning to include complex forms of creative reasoning that are not always successful and can lead to incorrect solutions. The study of these heuristic ways of reasoning is situated at the crossroads of philoso phy, artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, and logic; that is, at the heart of cognitive science. There are several key ingredients common to the various forms of model based reasoning to be considered in this book. The models are intended as in terpretations of target physical systems, processes, phenomena, or situations. The models are retrieved or constructed on the basis of potentially satisfying salient constraints of the target domain.

Methodology, Epistemology, and Philosophy of Science

Author : Carl G. Hempel
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9789027716460
Total Pages : 438 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (164 download)

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Book Synopsis Methodology, Epistemology, and Philosophy of Science by : Carl G. Hempel

Download or read book Methodology, Epistemology, and Philosophy of Science written by Carl G. Hempel and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1983 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wolfgang Stegmuller was born on June 3rd, 1923, at Natters near Innsbruck. He received his doctorates in economics and philosophy in 1945 and 1947 respectively, and his qualification (Habilitation) for lecturing in philosophy in 1949. He has been Professor of Philosophy, Logic, and Philosophy of Science at the Ludwig Maximilian University at Munich since 1958. He reintroduced analytic philosophy and philosophy of science in Germany by teaching and by publishing both introductory texts and research work in these areas; the present understanding of the term "Wissenschaftstheorie" is largely shaped by his work. At the same time he has shown a remarkable ability to interpret philosophical work in other areas of philosophy, even when that work is shaped by different premises and proceeds by very different methods and standards of clarity than his own. He is one of the very few philosophers in the world to have succeeded in creating an important new line of research in technical philosophy while keeping a synoptic view of what is transpiring in philosophy as a whole. Among Stegmuller's major publications are the books Hauptstromungen der Gegenwartsphilosophie, Metaphysik, Wissenschaft, Skepsis, Probleme und Resultate der Wissenschaftstheorie und Analytischen Philosophie, The Struc turalist View of Theories, and Rationale Rekonstruktion von Wissenschaft und ihrem Wandel (which contains an "Autobiographische Einleitung"). Some of these books have been translated into English and Spanish.

Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science IX

Author : D. Prawitz
Publisher : Elsevier
ISBN 13 : 0080544959
Total Pages : 1005 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (85 download)

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Book Synopsis Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science IX by : D. Prawitz

Download or read book Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science IX written by D. Prawitz and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 1995-01-10 with total page 1005 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is the product of the Proceedings of the 9th International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science and contains the text of most of the invited lectures. Divided into 15 sections, the book covers a wide range of different issues. The reader is given the opportunity to learn about the latest thinking in relevant areas other than those in which they themselves may normally specialise.

Method, Model and Matter

Author : M. Bunge
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9401025193
Total Pages : 202 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (1 download)

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Book Synopsis Method, Model and Matter by : M. Bunge

Download or read book Method, Model and Matter written by M. Bunge and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of essays deals with three clusters of problems in the philo sophy of science: scientific method, conceptual models, and ontological underpinnings. The disjointedness of topics is more apparent than real, since the whole book is concerned with the scientific knowledge of fact. Now, the aim of factual knowledge is the conceptual grasping of being, and this understanding is provided by theories of whatever there may be. If the theories are testable and specific, such as a theory of a particular chemical reaction, then they are often called 'theoretical models' and clas sed as scientific. If the theories are extremely general, like a theory of syn thesis and dissociation without any reference to a particular kind of stuff, then they may be called 'metaphysical' - as well as 'scientific' if they are consonant with science. Between these two extremes there is a whole gamut of kinds of factual theories. Thus the entire spectrum should be dominated by the scientific method, quite irrespective of the subject matter. This is the leitmotiv of the present book. The introductory chapter, on method in the philosophy of science, tackles the question 'Why don't scientists listen to their philosophers?'.

Modelling and Simulation in the Social Sciences from the Philosophy of Science Point of View

Author : R. Hegselmann
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9401586861
Total Pages : 332 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (15 download)

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Book Synopsis Modelling and Simulation in the Social Sciences from the Philosophy of Science Point of View by : R. Hegselmann

Download or read book Modelling and Simulation in the Social Sciences from the Philosophy of Science Point of View written by R. Hegselmann and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Model building in the social sciences can increasingly rely on well elaborated formal theories. At the same time inexpensive large computational capacities are now available. Both make computer-based model building and simulation possible in social science, whose central aim is in particular an understanding of social dynamics. Such social dynamics refer to public opinion formation, partner choice, strategy decisions in social dilemma situations and much more. In the context of such modelling approaches, novel problems in philosophy of science arise which must be analysed - the main aim of this book. Interest in social simulation has recently been growing rapidly world- wide, mainly as a result of the increasing availability of powerful personal computers. The field has also been greatly influenced by developments in cellular automata theory (from mathematics) and in distributed artificial intelligence which provided tools readily applicable to social simulation. This book presents a number of modelling and simulation approaches and their relations to problems in philosophy of science. It addresses sociologists and other social scientists interested in formal modelling, mathematical sociology, and computer simulation as well as computer scientists interested in social science applications, and philosophers of social science.