Exploratory Strategies: experiments and simulations

Autores
García, Pío; Velasco, Marisa
Año de publicación
2013
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
parte de libro
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Fil: García, Pío. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Filosofía; Argentina.
Fil: Velasco, Marisa. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Filosofía; Argentina.
The use of computer simulations in different scientific activities has increased considerably in the last few years. However, philosophical reflection on computer simulations is rather scarce, partly due to the relative novelty of this type of activity, and partly due to complexity of the subject. What aspects should be taken into account, and what perspectives must be adopted for the investigation are among the most important questions to ask when analyzing computer simulations from a philosophical point of view. In the present work, we suggest that an analysis based on exploratory strategies can be used to illuminate and characterize epistemic and methodological aspects of computer simulations. Putting the focus on the exploratory strategies implies adopting a perspective that, albeit it is relevant to the experiments and simulation analysis, is not limited to any of these areas. Exploratory strategies can be found in very diverse scientific practices. Notwithstanding, they can be used to underline relevant philosophical aspects of experimental practices and computer simulation practices alike. In this way, our proposal explicitly surpasses the comparison between experiments and simulations, albeit we are convinced that analyzing exploratory strategies in experiments and simulations helps substantially in the elucidation of their methodological and epistemological roles. The elucidation of the role of the exploratory strategies in computer simulations and experiments would contribute to the philosophy of both activities. Because the relation between computer simulation and experimentation has been understood in a very different way by the philosophical literature, a brief revision of some of the central issues will be needed. In addition, philosophical literature on exploratory experiments presupposes, although it rarely makes it explicit, an exploration notion that we will briefly address in this article. It is important to note that in their original contexts, both discussions have the pretension of drawing limits between simulations and experiments or between exploratory experiments and other experiments. On the contrary, as we repeatedly say in this paper, instead of stipulating limits for each type of practice, we propose to establish a ?topology? of the ways science tests, searches, and explores. We organize our work in the following way. First, we will schematically describe the way in which computer simulations are compared with experiments to establish the differences with the perspective defended in this paper. Second, we will address the distinction between exploratory experiments and other types of experiments. We will analyze exploratory strategies in experiments and simulations with the sole purpose of making our argument clearer; it is also important to keep a certain similarity to the way this matter has been questioned in philosophy. However, in most scientific practices, boundaries are not so clear. More than being a difficulty for the chosen cases, this seems to be the way in which contemporary scientific activity is organized. We think this could be an additional advantage of adopting the perspective of exploratory strategies, because it is neither centered on the distinction between experiment and simulation nor restricted only to experimental practices.
Fil: García, Pío. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Filosofía; Argentina.
Fil: Velasco, Marisa. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Filosofía; Argentina.
Filosofía, Historia y Filosofía de la Ciencia y la Tecnología
Materia
SIMULATION; EXPERIMENTATION; EXPLORATORY STRATEGIES
SIMULATION
EXPERIMENTATION
EXPLORATORY STRATEGIES
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
Repositorio
Repositorio Digital Universitario (UNC)
Institución
Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
OAI Identificador
oai:rdu.unc.edu.ar:11086/27549

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spelling Exploratory Strategies: experiments and simulationsGarcía, PíoVelasco, MarisaSIMULATION; EXPERIMENTATION; EXPLORATORY STRATEGIESSIMULATIONEXPERIMENTATIONEXPLORATORY STRATEGIESFil: García, Pío. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Filosofía; Argentina.Fil: Velasco, Marisa. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Filosofía; Argentina.The use of computer simulations in different scientific activities has increased considerably in the last few years. However, philosophical reflection on computer simulations is rather scarce, partly due to the relative novelty of this type of activity, and partly due to complexity of the subject. What aspects should be taken into account, and what perspectives must be adopted for the investigation are among the most important questions to ask when analyzing computer simulations from a philosophical point of view. In the present work, we suggest that an analysis based on exploratory strategies can be used to illuminate and characterize epistemic and methodological aspects of computer simulations. Putting the focus on the exploratory strategies implies adopting a perspective that, albeit it is relevant to the experiments and simulation analysis, is not limited to any of these areas. Exploratory strategies can be found in very diverse scientific practices. Notwithstanding, they can be used to underline relevant philosophical aspects of experimental practices and computer simulation practices alike. In this way, our proposal explicitly surpasses the comparison between experiments and simulations, albeit we are convinced that analyzing exploratory strategies in experiments and simulations helps substantially in the elucidation of their methodological and epistemological roles. The elucidation of the role of the exploratory strategies in computer simulations and experiments would contribute to the philosophy of both activities. Because the relation between computer simulation and experimentation has been understood in a very different way by the philosophical literature, a brief revision of some of the central issues will be needed. In addition, philosophical literature on exploratory experiments presupposes, although it rarely makes it explicit, an exploration notion that we will briefly address in this article. It is important to note that in their original contexts, both discussions have the pretension of drawing limits between simulations and experiments or between exploratory experiments and other experiments. On the contrary, as we repeatedly say in this paper, instead of stipulating limits for each type of practice, we propose to establish a ?topology? of the ways science tests, searches, and explores. We organize our work in the following way. First, we will schematically describe the way in which computer simulations are compared with experiments to establish the differences with the perspective defended in this paper. Second, we will address the distinction between exploratory experiments and other types of experiments. We will analyze exploratory strategies in experiments and simulations with the sole purpose of making our argument clearer; it is also important to keep a certain similarity to the way this matter has been questioned in philosophy. However, in most scientific practices, boundaries are not so clear. More than being a difficulty for the chosen cases, this seems to be the way in which contemporary scientific activity is organized. We think this could be an additional advantage of adopting the perspective of exploratory strategies, because it is neither centered on the distinction between experiment and simulation nor restricted only to experimental practices.Fil: García, Pío. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Filosofía; Argentina.Fil: Velasco, Marisa. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Filosofía; Argentina.Filosofía, Historia y Filosofía de la Ciencia y la Tecnología2013info:eu-repo/semantics/bookPartinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_3248info:ar-repo/semantics/parteDeLibroapplication/pdf978-1-4438-4792-6http://hdl.handle.net/11086/27549enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositorio Digital Universitario (UNC)instname:Universidad Nacional de Córdobainstacron:UNC2025-09-29T13:43:15Zoai:rdu.unc.edu.ar:11086/27549Institucionalhttps://rdu.unc.edu.ar/Universidad públicaNo correspondehttp://rdu.unc.edu.ar/oai/snrdoca.unc@gmail.comArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:25722025-09-29 13:43:15.667Repositorio Digital Universitario (UNC) - Universidad Nacional de Córdobafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Exploratory Strategies: experiments and simulations
title Exploratory Strategies: experiments and simulations
spellingShingle Exploratory Strategies: experiments and simulations
García, Pío
SIMULATION; EXPERIMENTATION; EXPLORATORY STRATEGIES
SIMULATION
EXPERIMENTATION
EXPLORATORY STRATEGIES
title_short Exploratory Strategies: experiments and simulations
title_full Exploratory Strategies: experiments and simulations
title_fullStr Exploratory Strategies: experiments and simulations
title_full_unstemmed Exploratory Strategies: experiments and simulations
title_sort Exploratory Strategies: experiments and simulations
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv García, Pío
Velasco, Marisa
author García, Pío
author_facet García, Pío
Velasco, Marisa
author_role author
author2 Velasco, Marisa
author2_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv SIMULATION; EXPERIMENTATION; EXPLORATORY STRATEGIES
SIMULATION
EXPERIMENTATION
EXPLORATORY STRATEGIES
topic SIMULATION; EXPERIMENTATION; EXPLORATORY STRATEGIES
SIMULATION
EXPERIMENTATION
EXPLORATORY STRATEGIES
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Fil: García, Pío. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Filosofía; Argentina.
Fil: Velasco, Marisa. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Filosofía; Argentina.
The use of computer simulations in different scientific activities has increased considerably in the last few years. However, philosophical reflection on computer simulations is rather scarce, partly due to the relative novelty of this type of activity, and partly due to complexity of the subject. What aspects should be taken into account, and what perspectives must be adopted for the investigation are among the most important questions to ask when analyzing computer simulations from a philosophical point of view. In the present work, we suggest that an analysis based on exploratory strategies can be used to illuminate and characterize epistemic and methodological aspects of computer simulations. Putting the focus on the exploratory strategies implies adopting a perspective that, albeit it is relevant to the experiments and simulation analysis, is not limited to any of these areas. Exploratory strategies can be found in very diverse scientific practices. Notwithstanding, they can be used to underline relevant philosophical aspects of experimental practices and computer simulation practices alike. In this way, our proposal explicitly surpasses the comparison between experiments and simulations, albeit we are convinced that analyzing exploratory strategies in experiments and simulations helps substantially in the elucidation of their methodological and epistemological roles. The elucidation of the role of the exploratory strategies in computer simulations and experiments would contribute to the philosophy of both activities. Because the relation between computer simulation and experimentation has been understood in a very different way by the philosophical literature, a brief revision of some of the central issues will be needed. In addition, philosophical literature on exploratory experiments presupposes, although it rarely makes it explicit, an exploration notion that we will briefly address in this article. It is important to note that in their original contexts, both discussions have the pretension of drawing limits between simulations and experiments or between exploratory experiments and other experiments. On the contrary, as we repeatedly say in this paper, instead of stipulating limits for each type of practice, we propose to establish a ?topology? of the ways science tests, searches, and explores. We organize our work in the following way. First, we will schematically describe the way in which computer simulations are compared with experiments to establish the differences with the perspective defended in this paper. Second, we will address the distinction between exploratory experiments and other types of experiments. We will analyze exploratory strategies in experiments and simulations with the sole purpose of making our argument clearer; it is also important to keep a certain similarity to the way this matter has been questioned in philosophy. However, in most scientific practices, boundaries are not so clear. More than being a difficulty for the chosen cases, this seems to be the way in which contemporary scientific activity is organized. We think this could be an additional advantage of adopting the perspective of exploratory strategies, because it is neither centered on the distinction between experiment and simulation nor restricted only to experimental practices.
Fil: García, Pío. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Filosofía; Argentina.
Fil: Velasco, Marisa. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Filosofía; Argentina.
Filosofía, Historia y Filosofía de la Ciencia y la Tecnología
description Fil: García, Pío. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Filosofía; Argentina.
publishDate 2013
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2013
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info:ar-repo/semantics/parteDeLibro
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status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv 978-1-4438-4792-6
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instname_str Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
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