Suárez, Javier and Deulofeu, Roger (2019) Equilibrium explanation as structural non-mechanistic explanations: The case of long-term bacterial persistence in human hosts. Teorema: International Journal of Philosophy, 38 (3). pp. 95-120. ISSN 0210-1602

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Abstract

Philippe Huneman has recently questioned the widespread application of mechanistic models of scientific explanation based on the existence of structural explanations, i.e. explanations that account for the phenomenon to be explained in virtue of the mathematical properties of the system where the phenomenon obtains, rather than in terms of the mechanisms that causally produce the phenomenon. Structural explanations are very diverse, including cases like explanations in terms of bowtie structures, in terms of the topological properties of the system, or in terms of equilibrium. The role of mathematics in bowtie structured systems and in topologically constrained systems has recently been examined in different papers. However, the specific role that mathematical properties play in equilibrium explanations requires further examination, as different authors defend different interpretations, some of them closer to the new-mechanistic approach than to the structural model advocated by Huneman. In this paper, we cover this gap by investigating the explanatory role that mathematics play in Blaser and Kirschner’s nested equilibrium model of the stability of persistent long-term human-microbe associations. We argue that their model is explanatory because: i) it provides a mathematical structure in the form of a set of differential equations that together satisfy an ESS; ii) that the nested nature of the ESSs makes the explanation of host-microbe persistent associations robust to any perturbation; iii) that this is so because the properties of the ESS directly mirror the properties of the biological system in a non-causal way. The combination of these three theses make equilibrium explanations look more similar to structural explanations than to causal-mechanistic explanation.

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Item Type:	Published Article or Volume
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Suárez, Javier javier.suarez@ub.edu 0000-0001-5851-2277 Deulofeu, Roger roger.deulofeu@gmail.com 0000-0002-4554-9756
Keywords:	scientific explanation mechanisms equilibrium explanation structural explanation non-causal explanation evolutionary stable strategy
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory General Issues > Causation General Issues > Explanation General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science
Depositing User:	Dr Javier Suárez
Date Deposited:	16 Dec 2019 18:49
Last Modified:	16 Dec 2019 18:49
Item ID:	16696
Journal or Publication Title:	Teorema: International Journal of Philosophy
Publisher:	KRK
Official URL:	https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codig...
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory General Issues > Causation General Issues > Explanation General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science
Date:	13 December 2019
Page Range:	pp. 95-120
Volume:	38
Number:	3
ISSN:	0210-1602
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/16696

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• Equilibrium explanation as structural non-mechanistic explanations: The case of long-term bacterial persistence in human hosts. (deposited 17 Sep 2019 15:04)
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