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MODELS AND SIMULATIONS

Two-day conference in Paris, 12-13 June 2006

http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/CPNSS/events/Conferences/Simulations/

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Robert Batterman (Western Ontario) and Paul
Humphreys (University of Virginia)

ORGANIZERS: Roman Frigg (LSE), Stephan Hartmann (LSE), and Cyrille
Imbert (IHPST/Paris I)

PROGRAMME COMMITTEE: Robert Batterman (Western Ontario), Jacques
Dubucs (IHPST/CNRS), Roman Frigg (LSE), Stephan Hartmann (LSE), Paul
Humphreys (University of Virginia), Cyrille Imbert (IHPST/Paris I),
and Eric Winsberg (University of South Florida)

PUBLICATION: Revised versions of selected papers will be published
in a special issue of Synthese. The deadline for submission of the
final version of the paper is 1 September 2006.

The conference is generously supported by the CNRS and IHPST, Paris.

The conference language is English.

OUTLINE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Computer simulations play a crucial role in many sciences, but they
have not yet received the attention they deserve from philosophers of
science. This conference attempts to systematically explore
methodological issues in connection with computer simulations and the
implications of these for traditional questions in the philosophy of
science. Special emphasis is put on the relation between models and
simulations as well as on the role of computers in the practice of
science.

The papers presented at the conference will address, among others,
the following questions:

1. What difference does the essentially dynamic nature of simulations
make to modeling, particularly in their representational abilities?
2. Is there a difference between simulations that have an explicit
model or theory behind them and those that do not?
3. When there is no model, what form does the representational
connection between the simulation and the world take?
4. Can any sense be made of claims that the world itself is carrying
out computations and simulating itself?
5. What role does intentionality play in simulations or such
apparently automatic representational processes as genetic algorithms?
6. Are there principles that one can use to decide whether a
simulation is to be interpreted realistically or only instrumentally?
7. At what level (e.g. the machine code, the algorithmic, the
scientific language) does a simulation represent a system?
8. It is well-known hat models enter into different relationships
such as isomorphism, embedding, or being a submodel of. Are there
analogous relations between simulations?
9. What would qualify as an equivalence relation between simulations?
10. What is the relation between simulations used as an experimental
tool and real experiments?
11. How does the methodology of simulations compare with experimentation?
12. How, if at all, do models and simulations explain?
13. What are the implications of the growing use of simulations in
science for our understanding of science?
14. What are the implications of the repeated use of the same models
and simulations within different fields of science?
15. How reliable are the results of simulations, and how is the
reliability of a simulation determined?
16. What role does mathematics play in simulations?
17. Is there a difference between the use of simulations across
different fields such as physics, biology, and the social sciences?
18. Is there a difference between the use of simulations in
fundamental science and in applied science?

SUBMISSION OF PAPERS

Please send extended abstracts of 1000 words to
<mailto:simulations2006@yahoo.co.uk> simulations2006@yahoo.co.uk by
15 March 2006. Decisions will be made by 1 April. A few travel
bursaries for graduate students are available; if you wish to be
considered please submit a short (tentative) travel budget and a CV
together with your paper. There will also be a Best Graduate Paper
Award of 500 EUROS. For details, visit the conference website.

Deadline for submissions: 15 March 2006

Although the conference has a philosophical orientation,
contributions by historians and sociologists of science are welcome
too. We particularly encourage working scientists to submit papers.

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Stephan Hartmann
http://www.stephanhartmann.org
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