Two kinds of exploratory models

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

I analyse the exploratory function of two main modelling practices: targetless fictional models and hypothetical perspectival models. In both cases, I argue, modelers invite us to imagine or conceive something about the target system, which is either known to be non-existent (fictional models) or just hypothetical (in perspectival models). I clarify the kind of imagining or conceiving involved in each modelling practice, and I show how each—in its own right—delivers important modal knowledge. I illustrate these two kinds of exploratory models with Maxwell’s ether model and SUSY models at the LHC.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)869-881
JournalPhilosophy of Science
Volume86
Issue number5
Early online date13 Dec 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2019

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