Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T18:52:52.593Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Discussion: What, If Anything, Is “The Strategy of Model Building in Population Biology?” A Comment on Levins (1966) and Odenbaugh (2003)*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Steven Hecht Orzack
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In our 1993 paper, “A Critical Look,” Elliott Sober and I concluded that the famous claim about model formulation and constraints made by Richard Levins in his influential 1966 article on model building in population biology is neither true nor normative. Here, I comment upon the claim of Odenbaugh (2003) that the conclusions of “A Critical Look” are incorrect. My conclusions remain that Levins’ claim about the tradeoff between model properties (1) lacks logical coherence, (2) generates an arbitrary model classification, and (3) lacks normative utility. Accordingly, I view his claim as providing no useful insight into the nature of models and model building in population biology.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 72 , Issue 3 , July 2005 , pp. 479 - 485
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

‡

I thank M. Dickson, P. Palladino, and two reviewers for critical comments. This work was partially supported by National Science Foundation Awards SES 9906997 and EIA 0220154, and by National Institute of Aging Award P01-AG0225000-01.

References

Bell, John S. (1987), Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Clark, Jeffrey T., and Terrell, John. (1978), “Archaeology in Oceania”, Archaeology in Oceania 7:293–319.Google Scholar
Holling, Crawford S. (1966), “The Strategy of Building Models of Complex Ecological Systems”, in Watt, Kenneth (ed.), Systems Analysis in Ecology. New York: Academic Press, 195–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levins, Richard (1966), “The Strategy of Model Building in Population Biology”, The Strategy of Model Building in Population Biology 54:421–431.Google Scholar
Levins, Richard (1993), “A Response to Orzack and Sober: Formal Analysis and the Fluidity of Science”, A Response to Orzack and Sober: Formal Analysis and the Fluidity of Science 68:547–555.Google Scholar
Odenbaugh, Jay (2003), “Complex Systems, Trade-Offs, and Theoretical Population Biology: Richard Levin’s ‘The Strategy of Model Building in Population Biology’ Revisited”, Complex Systems, Trade-Offs, and Theoretical Population Biology: Richard Levin’s ‘The Strategy of Model Building in Population Biology’ Revisited 70:1496–1507.Google Scholar
Orzack, Steven Hecht, and Sober, Elliott (1993), “A Critical Look at Richard Levins’ ‘The Strategy of Model Building in Population Biology’”, A Critical Look at Richard Levins’ ‘The Strategy of Model Building in Population Biology’ 68:533–546.Google Scholar
Orzack, Steven Hecht, and Tuljapurkar, Shripad (2001), “Reproductive Effort in Variable Environments or Environmental Variation Is for the Birds”, Reproductive Effort in Variable Environments or Environmental Variation Is for the Birds 82:2659–2665.Google Scholar
Palladino, Paolo (1991), “Defining Ecology: Ecological Theories, Mathematical Models, and Applied Biology in the 1960s and 1970s”, Defining Ecology: Ecological Theories, Mathematical Models, and Applied Biology in the 1960s and 1970s 24:223–243.Google Scholar
Panganiban, Grace, et al. (1997), “The Origin and Evolution of Animal Appendages”, The Origin and Evolution of Animal Appendages 94:5162–5166.Google ScholarPubMed
Peck, Steven L. (2004), “Simulation as Experiment: A Philosophical Reassessment for Biological Modeling”, Simulation as Experiment: A Philosophical Reassessment for Biological Modeling 19:530–534.Google ScholarPubMed
Romney, A. Kimball, Moore, Carmella C., and Rusch, Craig D. (1997), “Cultural Universals: Measuring the Semantic Structure of Emotion Terms in English and Japanese”, Cultural Universals: Measuring the Semantic Structure of Emotion Terms in English and Japanese 94:5489–5494.Google ScholarPubMed
Taylor, Peter (2000), “Socioecological Webs and Sites of Sociality: Levins’ Strategy of Model Building Revisited”, Socioecological Webs and Sites of Sociality: Levins’ Strategy of Model Building Revisited 15:197–210.Google Scholar
Thorne, P. W., et al. (2003), “Probable Causes of Late Twentieth Century Tropospheric Temperature Trends”, Probable Causes of Late Twentieth Century Tropospheric Temperature Trends 21:573–591.Google Scholar
Zhou, X., et al. (1997), “Detecting Chaotic Dynamics of Insect Populations from Long-Term Survey Data”, Detecting Chaotic Dynamics of Insect Populations from Long-Term Survey Data 22:231–241.Google Scholar