n3-al-mukhatabat-journal

Only in the last two decades, Philosophy of science has shown a shift in interest
from the concepts of the theory and law to the concept of the model 94 . However,
there is a great variety of views about the nature of models, how does it work in
scientific practice, its relation to theories and laws, from one side, and to reality,
from the other, etc.
Stathis Psillos defines the concept of the model as follows:
Term of art used in understanding how theories represent the world. Though
according to a popular view, the semantic view of theories, theories are families
of models, there is little agreement as to what models are, how they are related
to theories and how they represent whatever they are supposed to represent...
According to Cartwright, models are devices employed whenever a
mathematical theory is applied to reality. This view has recently been developed
into the models-as-mediators programme, according to which models are
autonomous agents that mediate between theory and world. 95
On the other hand, Ronald Giere 96 introduces a pragmatic view of models in
which he proposes explicitly to provide a space for purposes in our
understanding of representational practices in science. So, the relationship to be
investigated has the form: Scientists use X (which is a model) to represent some
aspect of the world for specific purposes. Focusing on scientific practice, one
quickly realizes that X can be many things, for example, words, equations,
diagrams, graphs, photographs, and, increasingly, computer-generated images
(Giere: 743).
Therefore, making use of models is not confined to specific forms, disciplines, or
fields of scientific applications, rather, models are used in accordance to the
purposes of the scientist, or the scientific community.
94 Xavier de Donato Rodríguez, Jesu´s Zamora Bonilla (2009), "Credibility, Idealisation, and Model
Building: An Inferential Approach", Erkenntnis, 70:101.
95 Psillos, Stathis. 2007, "Philosophy of Science A–Z", Edinburgh University Press, P. 153-154.
96 Giere, Ronald (2111), “How Models Are Used to Represent Reality”, Philosophy of Science 71,
Supplement, S742-752.
AL-MUKHATABAT Numéro 03 Année 01/2012 لىولأا ةن سلا 30 ددعلا تابطانا
112
ISSN: 1737-6432