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All Outputs (16)

Model Evaluation: An Adequacy-for-Purpose View (2020)
Journal Article
Parker, W. (2020). Model Evaluation: An Adequacy-for-Purpose View. Philosophy of Science, 87(3), 457-477. https://doi.org/10.1086/708691

According to an adequacy-for-purpose view, models should be assessed with respect to their adequacy (or fitness) for particular purposes. Such a view has been advocated by scientists and philosophers alike. Important details, however, have yet to be... Read More about Model Evaluation: An Adequacy-for-Purpose View.

Evidence and Knowledge from Computer Simulation (2020)
Journal Article
Parker, W. S. (2022). Evidence and Knowledge from Computer Simulation. Erkenntnis, 87(4), 1521-1538. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-020-00260-1

Can computer simulation results be evidence for hypotheses about real-world systems and phenomena? If so, what sort of evidence? Can we gain genuinely new knowledge of the world via simulation? I argue that evidence from computer simulation is aptly... Read More about Evidence and Knowledge from Computer Simulation.

Philosophical Perspectives on Earth System Modeling: Truth, Adequacy, and Understanding (2020)
Journal Article
Gramelsberger, G., Lenhard, J., & Parker, W. (2020). Philosophical Perspectives on Earth System Modeling: Truth, Adequacy, and Understanding. Journal of Advances in Modelling Earth Systems, 12(1), https://doi.org/10.1029/2019ms001720

We explore three questions about Earth system modeling that are of both scientific and philosophical interest: What kind of understanding can be gained via complex Earth system models? How can the limits of understanding be bypassed or managed? How s... Read More about Philosophical Perspectives on Earth System Modeling: Truth, Adequacy, and Understanding.

Incorporating user values into climate services (2019)
Journal Article
Parker, W. S., & Lusk, G. (2019). Incorporating user values into climate services. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-17-0325.1

Climate services should consider not just what users want to know, but also which errors users particularly want to avoid. Increasingly there are calls for climate services to be “co-produced” with users, taking into account not only the basic inform... Read More about Incorporating user values into climate services.

Issues in the Theoretical Foundations of Climate Science (2018)
Journal Article
Katzav, J., & Parker, W. S. (2018). Issues in the Theoretical Foundations of Climate Science. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 63, 141-149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsb.2018.02.001

The theoretical foundations of climate science have received little attention from philosophers thus far, despite a number of outstanding issues. We provide a brief, non-technical overview of several of these issues – related to theorizing about clim... Read More about Issues in the Theoretical Foundations of Climate Science.

Values and evidence: how models make a difference (2017)
Journal Article
Parker, W. S., & Winsberg, E. (2018). Values and evidence: how models make a difference. European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 8(1), 125-142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13194-017-0180-6

We call attention to an underappreciated way in which non-epistemic values influence evidence evaluation in science. Our argument draws upon some well-known features of scientific modeling. We show that, when scientific models stand in for background... Read More about Values and evidence: how models make a difference.

Reanalyses and Observations: What's the Difference? (2016)
Journal Article
Parker, W. S. (2016). Reanalyses and Observations: What's the Difference?. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 97(9), 1565-1572. https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-14-00226.1

Are there important differences between reanalysis data and familiar observations and measurements? If so, what are they? This essay evaluates four possible answers that relate to: the role of inference, reliance on forecasts, the need to solve an il... Read More about Reanalyses and Observations: What's the Difference?.

False Precision, Surprise and Improved Uncertainty Assessment (2015)
Journal Article
Parker, W., & Risbey, J. (2015). False Precision, Surprise and Improved Uncertainty Assessment. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 373(2055), Article 20140453. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2014.0453

An uncertainty report describes the extent of an agent’s uncertainty about some matter. We identify two basic requirements for uncertainty reports, which we call faithfulness and completeness. We then discuss two pitfalls of uncertainty assessment th... Read More about False Precision, Surprise and Improved Uncertainty Assessment.

Computer Simulation, Measurement, and Data Assimilation (2015)
Journal Article
Parker, W. (2015). Computer Simulation, Measurement, and Data Assimilation. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 68(1), 273-304. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjps/axv037

This article explores some of the roles of computer simulation in measurement. A model-based view of measurement is adopted and three types of measurement—direct, derived, and complex—are distinguished. It is argued that while computer simulations on... Read More about Computer Simulation, Measurement, and Data Assimilation.

Simulation and understanding in the study of weather and climate (2014)
Journal Article
Parker, W. (2014). Simulation and understanding in the study of weather and climate. Perspectives on Science, 22(3), 336-356. https://doi.org/10.1162/posc_a_00137

In the study of weather and climate, the digital computer has allowed scientists to make existing theory more useful, both for prediction and for understanding. After characterizing two sorts of understanding commonly sought by scientists in this are... Read More about Simulation and understanding in the study of weather and climate.

Values and uncertainties in climate prediction, revisited (2014)
Journal Article
Parker, W. (2014). Values and uncertainties in climate prediction, revisited. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 46, 24-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2013.11.003

Philosophers continue to debate both the actual and the ideal roles of values in science. Recently, Eric Winsberg has offered a novel, model-based challenge to those who argue that the internal workings of science can and should be kept free from the... Read More about Values and uncertainties in climate prediction, revisited.

Confirmation and Adequacy-for-Purpose in Climate Modelling (2009)
Journal Article
Parker, W. (2009). Confirmation and Adequacy-for-Purpose in Climate Modelling. Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume, 83(1), 233-249. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8349.2009.00180.x

Lloyd (2009) contends that climate models are confirmed by various instances of fit between their output and observational data. The present paper argues that what these instances of fit might confirm are not climate models themselves, but rather hyp... Read More about Confirmation and Adequacy-for-Purpose in Climate Modelling.