Session 11: Scientific Models
Join us on Sunday, May 3rd at 2:00 PM for our next Philosophy Cafe as we explore the nature of Scientific Models.
Science is often treated as the gold standard of knowledge. It gives us predictions, technologies, explanations. Put simply: it works. But when you look closely, science doesn’t give us reality directly; it models of reality. They simplify, approximate and structure the world in ways that allow us to act within it. But just what kind of knowledge do they give us?
Recently, this focus on models has led some people to prioritize another value—namely, ‘utility.’ We don’t just want certainty or understanding; we want to know what’s useful. Some more pragmatically minded Substack writers seem downright skeptical of any pretenses toward understanding or certainty. Certain radical strains of pragmatists even think that the model itself changes reality, that how we think about the world has a geniune effects.
This session will be on Sunday, May 3rd - Time 2pm EST