Computer simulations

Abstract

This chapter introduces philosophical debates on simulation models and their implementation as computer simulations. Two main views are identified, and a third is outlined. According to the first view, simulation models are taken to be mathematical models simpliciter and computer simulations are simply numerical solutions to those mathematical models. In the second view, simulation models are regarded as a new type of mathematical model with their own methodology, and computer simulations are viewed as a distinctive kind of scientific methodology. The third view is exploratory and sees simulation models as distant from mathematical modeling and as units of analysis in their own right. The chapter concludes with a discussion on epistemic opacity as an essential philosophical problem for computer simulations.