Zednik, Carlos (2014) Heuristics, Descriptions, and the Scope of Mechanistic Explanation. [Preprint]

Preview

PDF Zednik_2014_-_Heuristics,_Descriptions,_and_the_Scope_of_Mechanistic_Explanation.pdf - Submitted Version Download (625kB)

Abstract

The philosophical conception of mechanistic explanation is grounded on a limited number of canonical examples. These examples provide an overly narrow view of contemporary scientific practice, because they do not reflect the extent to which the heuristic strategies and descriptive practices that contribute to mechanistic explanation have evolved beyond the well-known methods of decomposition, localization, and pictorial representation. Recent examples from evolutionary robotics and network approaches to biology and neuroscience demonstrate the increasingly important role played by computer simulations and mathematical representations in the epistemic practices of mechanism discovery and mechanism description. These examples also indicate that the scope of mechanistic explanation must be re-examined: With new and increasingly powerful methods of discovery and description comes the possibility of describing mechanisms far more complex than traditionally assumed.

---

Export/Citation:

EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL

Social Networking:

Share |

---

Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Zednik, Carlos czednik@uos.de
Keywords:	Mechanistic explanation, scientific discovery, evolutionary robotics, mathematical representation, dynamical systems theory, systems neuroscience, decomposability, heuristics of explanation.
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Mathematics General Issues > Models and Idealization Specific Sciences > Neuroscience
Depositing User:	Dr. Carlos Zednik
Date Deposited:	03 Aug 2014 14:51
Last Modified:	03 Aug 2014 14:51
Item ID:	10923
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Mathematics General Issues > Models and Idealization Specific Sciences > Neuroscience
Date:	2014
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/10923

Available Versions of this Item

• Heuristics, Descriptions, and the Scope of Mechanistic Explanation. (deposited 08 Jul 2014 13:15)
  • Heuristics, Descriptions, and the Scope of Mechanistic Explanation. (deposited 03 Aug 2014 14:51) [Currently Displayed]

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item