Keywords: , Scientific practice, Interdisciplinarity, Mechanistic modeling, Heuristics, Ecology.

Abstract: 

This article addresses the contributions of the literature on the new mechanistic philosophy of science for the scientific practice of model building in ecology. This is reflected in a one-to-one interdisciplinary collaboration between an ecologist and a philosopher of science during science-in-the-making. We argue that the identification, reconstruction and understanding of mechanisms is context-sensitive, and for this case study mechanistic modeling did not present a normative role but a heuristic one. We expect our study to provides useful epistemic tools for the improvement of empirically-riven work in the debates about mechanistic explanation of ecological phenomena.

Poliseli, L., Coutinho, J. G., Viana, B., Russo, F., & El-Hani, C. N. (2022). Philosophy of science in practice in ecological model building. Biology & Philosophy, 37(4), 1-27. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10539-022-09851-4