Capturing Reality with Fictional Models

26th November 2014 Margaret Morrison (Toronto)
Capturing Reality with Fictional Models
This Royal Institute of Philosophy Lecture will be held in the Williams Library, St Chad's College, Durham. 

Refreshments will be available from 5pm with commencement of the lecture at 5:30pm.   Abstract Models are thought to be one of the most important tools for acquiring knowledge in physics, biology, economics and most other disciplines. But, in some cases these models are described as fictions because they are based on unrealistic assumptions about the systems the describe. Interestingly, the development of electromagnetism by Maxwell had its origins in a purely fictional model; yet that model provided the foundation for the modern theory used today. How is it possible that fictional models can provide us with knowledge of the physical world? I explore how reasoning with these models takes place, how they function as a source of information and how they might differ from their literary counterparts.

Contact:
Dr Matthew D Eddy ([email protected])