When mechanistic models explain

Author: Craver, Carl

Source: Synthese, Volume 153, Number 3, December 2006 , pp. 355-376(22)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

Not all models are explanatory. Some models are data summaries. Some models sketch explanations but leave crucial details unspecified or hidden behind filler terms. Some models are used to conjecture a how-possibly explanation without regard to whether it is a how-actually explanation. I use the Hodgkin and Huxley model of the action potential to illustrate these ways that models can be useful without explaining. I then use the subsequent development of the explanation of the action potential to show what is required of an adequate mechanistic model. Mechanistic models are explanatory.

Keywords: Mechanisms; Explanation; Models; Electrophysiology; Action; Potential; Hodgkin; Huxley; Functional Analysis

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11229-006-9097-x

Affiliations: 1: Email: ccraver@artsci.wustl.edu

Publication date: 2006-12-01