Perspectival Modeling

Abstract

The goal of this article is to address the problem of inconsistent models, and the challenge it poses for perspectivism. I analyse the argument, draw attention to some hidden premises behind it, and deflate them. Then I introduce the notion of perspectival models as a distinctive class of modeling practices, whose primary function is heuristic. I illustrate perspectival modeling with two examples taken from contemporary high-energy physics at LHC, CERN, which are designed to show how a plurality of seemingly incompatible models (suitably understood) is methodologically crucial to advance the realist quest in cutting-edge areas of scientific inquiry.

Knowledge from a Human Point of View

“…I will not do the topic justice. I will also not do justice to the interesting work on perspectivalism in science explored by Michela Massimi ( , 2018a and others and how it bears on the overall question I am here interested in. Nonetheless, I hope there are some points of contact.…”

Realism, perspectivism, and disagreement in science

“…By contrast, the indicative mode (E.1) speaks to our epistemic attitudes when we judge whether P 1 is likely to occur in the hypothetical scenario described by Grotthuss' model in the antecedent. This is the realm of perspectival models as heuristic models (see Massimi 2018a). Consider now the following chain of indicative-conditionalssupporting inferences:…”

Representationalism in Measurement Theory. Structuralism or Perspectivalism?

“…Perspectival realists differ in their responses to the problem of inconsistent models (compare, for example, the difference between Giere 2006 andMassimi 2018b ). In the case of different measurement structures ascribed to temperature, it is tempting to conclude that, since statistical mechanics is a more fundamental theory than thermodynamics, we should simply go with the structure ascribed to temperature by statistical mechanics.…”

“…Instead both models say something true about water, something that would be lost if we chose only one perspective as the uniquely true perspective. Whether there is nonetheless room for realism from a perspectivalist standpoint will depend on how perspectivalists can characterize the relationship between the two or more apparently inconsistent models ( Giere 2009 ;Massimi 2018b ).…”