Baldissera Pacchetti, M orcid.org/0000-0002-5867-6893 (2018) A role for spatiotemporal scales in modeling. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 67. pp. 14-21. ISSN 0039-3681
Abstract
Bogen and Woodward's distinction between data and phenomena raises the need to understand the structure of the data-to-phenomena and theory-to-phenomena inferences. I suggest that one way to study the structure of these inferences is to analyze the role of the assumptions involved in the inferences: What kind of assumptions are they? How do these assumptions contribute to the practice of identifying phenomena? In this paper, using examples from atmospheric dynamics, I develop an account of the practice of identifying the target in the data-to-phenomena and theory-to-phenomena inferences in which assumptions about spatiotemporal scales play a central role in the identification of parameters that describe the target system. I also argue that these assumptions are not only empirical but they are also idealizing and abstracting. I conclude the paper with a reflection on the role of idealizations in modeling.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Keywords: | Models; Scales; Idealization; Target system; Phenomena; Climate science |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 12 Nov 2021 14:08 |
Last Modified: | 12 Nov 2021 14:08 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.shpsa.2017.10.006 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:180144 |