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Accepted manuscript

Trading Evidence: The Role of Models in Interfield Unification

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2025

Daniel A. Weiskopf Open the ORCID record for Daniel A. Weiskopf [Opens in a new window]
Daniel A. Weiskopf*
Affiliation:
Contact: Department of Philosophy, Georgia State University, PO Box 3994, Atlanta, GA 30302-3984. Email: dweiskopf@gsu.edu
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Abstract

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Scientific fields frequently need to exchange data to advance their own inquiries. Data unification is the process of stabilizing these forms of interfield data exchange. I present an account of the epistemic structure of data unification, drawing on case studies from model-based cognitive neuroscience (MBCN). MBCN is distinctive because it shows that modeling practices play an essential role in mediating these data exchanges. Models often serve as interfield evidential integrators, and models built for this purpose have their own representational and inferential functions. This form of data unification should be seen as autonomous from other forms, particularly explanatory unification.

Type
Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Accepted manuscript , pp. 1 - 30
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Philosophy of Science Association