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Modelling as Indirect Representation? The Lotka-Volterra Model Revisited

Knuuttila, Tarja ; Loettgers, Andrea

In: The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 2017, vol. 68, no. 4, p. 1007-1036

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    Title
    • Modelling as Indirect Representation? The Lotka-Volterra Model Revisited
    Author
    • Knuuttila, Tarja. University of South Carolina Columbia, USA
    • Loettgers, Andrea. Université de Genève, University of Bern Geneva, Switzerland
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    Language
    • English
    Published in
    • The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 2017, vol. 68, no. 4, p. 1007-1036. Oxford University Press
    Other Version
    Classification
    • Philosophy
    Keywords
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:332932
    Summary
    Is there something specific about modelling that distinguishes it from many other theoretical endeavours? We consider Michael Weisberg's ([2007], [2013]) thesis that modelling is a form of indirect representation through a close examination of the historical roots of the Lotka-Volterra model. While Weisberg discusses only Volterra's work, we also study Lotka's very different design of the Lotka-Volterra model. We will argue that while there are elements of indirect representation in both Volterra's and Lotka's modelling approaches, they are largely due to two other features of contemporary model construction processes that Weisberg does not explicitly consider: the methods-drivenness and outcome-orientedness of modelling. 1Introduction2Modelling as Indirect Representation3The Design of the Lotka-Volterra Model by Volterra 3.1Volterra's method of hypothesis3.2The construction of the Lotka-Volterra model by Volterra4The Design of the Lotka-Volterra Model by Lotka 4.1Physical biology according to Lotka4.2Lotka's systems approach and the Lotka-Volterra model5Philosophical Discussion: Strategies and Tools of Modelling 5.1Volterra's path from the method of isolation to the method of hypothesis5.2The template-based approach of Lotka5.3Modelling: methods-driven and outcome-oriented6Conclusion