From idealizations to social practices in science: the case of phylogenetic trees

Synthese 199 (3-4):10865-10884 (2021)
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Abstract

In this paper, I show how idealizations contribute to social activities in science, such as the recruitment of experts to a research project. These contributions have not been explicitly discussed by recent philosophical accounts of scientific idealization. These accounts have focused on how idealizations influence activities like scientific theorization, explanation, and modeling. Other accounts focus on how idealizations influence policy-making and science communication. I expand these accounts by exploring the uses of idealized phylogenetic trees in science. Trees are not only useful for improving our understanding and public communication of evolutionary history, but they also help with the organization of laboratories and collaboration among scientists. Attending to the relation between idealizations and these social practices in science matters. It can help us understand why idealized models become entrenched and why certain social practices change over time.

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Celso Neto
University of Exeter

Citations of this work

Vindicating Lineage Eliminativism.Javier Suárez & Sophie Veigl - forthcoming - Biological Theory:1-15.
Multi-model approaches to phylogenetics: Implications for idealization.Aja Watkins - 2021 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 90 (C):285-297.

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References found in this work

How the laws of physics lie.Nancy Cartwright - 1983 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Depth: An Account of Scientific Explanation.Michael Strevens - 2008 - Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
True Enough.Catherine Z. Elgin - 2017 - Cambridge: MIT Press.

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