Lecturer: Andrea Loettgers
Fields: Epistemology of scientific modelling
Content
Complexity and interdisciplinarity seem to be ubiquitous in today\’s science. As shown in interdisciplinary research areas such as biochemistry, ecology, synthetic and systems biology, neuroscience, and astrobiology, reasoning by models is an integral part of the
scientific practice, which addresses the properties and behavior of complex systems. Philosophers of science have become more insistent in addressing how models generate knowledge about complex systems in their specific interdisciplinary settings. This class will first discuss the traditional view of models as representations of some target systems rooted in the semantic view of theories. From there, we move on to an alternative approach closer to actual scientific practice in which models of complex systems are considered purposefully constructed entities. By doing so, the epistemic capacities inscribed into the model in the construction process become accessible. Models gain autonomy if they are no longer viewed as \’just\’ representing some object in the world.
In discussing the artifactual account of models, we will use examples from systems and synthetic biology, physics such as the Ising and spin glass models, and network models. These discussions of actual cases will lead us to further ‘ingredients’ of modeling practices, such as model templates, which capture essential transdisciplinary practices. Or the transfer of notions from engineering to biology and assumptions about the existence of systems independent design principles underlying the organization of complex systems.
In this course, I will provide some framework for discussions on modeling practices. Everybody is welcome to contribute her/his own experiences by making use of and reflecting on models.
The list of literature is just a selection from which you may get some first idea of what are the topics when it comes to modeling practice in philosophy.
Literature
- Morgan, M. and Morrison, M. (1999). Models as Mediators, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Weisberg, M. (2007). ‘Who is a Modeler?’, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 58:207-233.
- Weisberg, M. (2013). Simulation and Similarity: Using Models to Understand the World, New York: Oxford University Press.
- Hughes, R.I.G. (1999) ‘The Ising model, computer simulation, and universal physics’, In M.S.
- Morgan and M. Morrison (Eds.), Models as mediators. Perspectives on natural and social sciences. (pp. 97-145). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Elowitz, M. and Leiber, S. (2000). ‘A synthetic oscillatory network of transcriptional regulators’, Nature 403: 335-338.
- Hopfield, J. (1982) ‘Neuronal networks and physical systems with emergent collective computational abilities’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 79:2554-2558.
- Knuuttila, T. and Loettgers, A. (2013). ‘Basic Science Through Engineering: Synthetic Modeling and the Idea of Biology-inspired Engineering’, Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 44:158-169.
- Knuuttila, T. and Loettgers, A. (2023). ‘Model templates: transdisciplinary application and entanglement’, Synthese 201(6):200.
Lecturer
Andrea Loettgers is a senior researcher in the ERC project Possible Life-The Philosophical Significance of Extending Biology at the University of Vienna. She holds a habilitation in philosophy of science from the University of Bern and a PhD. in physics from the University of Göttingen. From 2001 to 2011, she has been a Postdoc at the California Institute of Technology. At Caltech, she held joint appointments in the humanities and the biology department to conduct and philosophical analyse laboratory observations in synthetic biology. During this time, she was awarded a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Alfred Sloan Foundation. From 2005-2006, she had been appointed as the Hixon-Riggs Visiting Professor for Science, Technology and Social Studies at Harvey Mudd College. After returning to Switzerland, Loettgers has been awarded an additional grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation for a project on synthetic biology at the University of Geneva. From 2016 to 2018, she was appointed as Bernoulli Fellow at the Center of Space and Habitability. In her research, Loettgers investigates modeling practices in physics and biology based on laboratory observations. A special interest concerns the development of organizational principles in biology and their transfer in-between biology and physics. She has published in: British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Science, European Journal for Philosophy of Science, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, and The Monist.
Affiliation: University of Vienna