"Scientific Modelling and the Role of Unrealistic Assumptions"
Abstract: The multiverse is often thought to be a hypothetical account of how one might solve problems in fundamental physics. Yet this kind of speculation seems different in kind from the unrealistic assumptions instrinsic to scientific modelling more generally, e.g. infinite populations of genes in population genetics. This latter kind of modelling can be further distinguished from the construction of fictional or toy models. I discuss these different modelling practices and the nature of speculation associated with each, showing why the increasingly popular “models as fictions” view not only fails to capture the subtleties in modelling strategies but undermines the larger goals of modelling as a scientific activity.
Margaret Morrison is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto.
