IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/simgam/v41y2010i1p20-50.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Philosophy and Epistemology of Simulation: A Review

Author

Listed:
  • Till Grüne-Yanoff

    (University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, till.grune@helsinki.fi)

  • Paul Weirich

    (University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA, weirichp@missouri.edu)

Abstract

The philosophical literature on simulations has increased dramatically during the past 40 years. Many of its main topics are epistemological. For example, philosophers consider how the results of simulations help explain natural phenomena. This essay’s review treats mainly simulations in the social sciences. It considers the nature of simulations, the varieties of simulation, and uses of simulations for representation, prediction, explanation, and policy decisions. Being oriented toward philosophy of science, it compares simulations to models and experiments and considers whether simulations raise new methodological issues.The essay concludes that several features of simulations set them apart from models and experiments and make them novel scientific tools, whose powers and limits are not yet well understood.

Suggested Citation

  • Till Grüne-Yanoff & Paul Weirich, 2010. "The Philosophy and Epistemology of Simulation: A Review," Simulation & Gaming, , vol. 41(1), pages 20-50, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:simgam:v:41:y:2010:i:1:p:20-50
    DOI: 10.1177/1046878109353470
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1046878109353470
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1046878109353470?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:simgam:v:41:y:2010:i:1:p:20-50. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.