In this captivating discussion, Michael Weisberg, an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, delves into the philosophy of science, focusing on models and simulations. He shares his journey from chemistry to exploring how different types of models—concrete, computational, and mathematical—help us understand the world. Weisberg discusses the role of idealization and abstraction in modeling, how models can offer explanations rather than mere descriptions, and introduces the concept of weighted feature mapping for exploring similarity. He emphasizes the necessity of intersubjective standards in drawing parallels across models.
