Title:
Model Transfer as Conceptual Niche Co-Construction
Abstract:
Model Transfer (MT) occurs whenever a model template (i.e., a tractable, interpreted mathematical structure) developed in one disciplinary context is repurposed in another disciplinary context (Humphreys 2002, Knuuttila & Loettgers 2014). The key issue is the transfer process that renders a template applicable to a new target system, including the construction of a “landing zone” (Price 2019) and the management of conceptual pressure when a template’s interpretation conflicts with entrenched commitments in the recipient field (Houkes 2023). In this talk, I refine, extend, and unify previous philosophical accounts of MT by integrating them with niche-based accounts of scientific practice, such as Cognitive Niche Construction (Nersessian 2008) and Conceptual Ecology (Stotz & Griffiths 2008). This integration recasts MT as conceptual niche co-construction: a coupled process in which the conceptualization of a target system is shaped to host a template, and the transferred template is reshaped to fit the target system. To do so, I use a semi-formal definition of 'ecological niche' (Mahner & Bunge, 1997) as a semi-formal template to define 'conceptual niche' and thus account for MT and “conceptual speciation" (Stotz & Griffiths 2008); in what can be considered a case of second-order MT or metamodel transfer (i.e., modeling model transfer).