Modelling Scientific Communities (Elements in the Philosophy of Science) - Softcover

O'Connor, Cailin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1009359541 ISBN 13: 9781009359542

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2023

Synopsis

This Element will overview research using models to understand scientific practice. Models are useful for reasoning about groups and processes that are complicated and distributed across time and space, i.e., those that are difficult to study using empirical methods alone. Science fits this picture. For this reason, it is no surprise that researchers have turned to models over the last few decades to study various features of science. The different sections of the element are mostly organized around different modeling approaches. The models described in this element sometimes yield take-aways that are straightforward, and at other times more nuanced. The Element ultimately argues that while these models are epistemically useful, the best way to employ most of them to understand and improve science is in combination with empirical methods and other sorts of theorizing.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1009359541
• ISBN 13: 9781009359542
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 94