11-13 Dec 2014
Munich, Germany
Agent-based Modeling in Philosophy LMU Munich 11-13 December 2014 http://www.lmu.de/abmp2014 In the past two decades, agent-based models (ABMs) have become ubiquitous in philosophy and various sciences. ABMs have been applied, for example, to study the evolution of norms and language, to understand migration patterns of past civilizations, to investigate how population levels change in ecosystems over time, and more. In contrast with classical economic models or population-level models in biology, ABMs are praised for their lack of assumptions and their flexibility. Nonetheless, many of the methodological and epistemological questions raised by ABMs have yet to be fully articulated and answered. For example, there are unresolved debates about how to test (or "validate") ABMs, about the scope of their applicability in philosophy and the sciences, and about their implications or our understanding of reduction, emergence, and complexity in the sciences. This conference aims to bring together an interdisciplinary group of researchers aimed at understanding the foundations of agent-based modeling and how the practice can inform and be informed by philosophy. Topics of the conference will include, but will not be limited to: * Advantages and disadvantages of agent-based models in relation to classical economic and biological models * Testing and/or "validating" agent-based models * How agent-based models inform discussions of reduction and/or emergence in the sciences * Agent-based models and complexity * Applications of ABMs in philosophy, which may include, but is not limited to, investigating the evolution of norms and/or language, or the study of dynamics of scientific communities and theory/paradigm change KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Jason Alexander (LSE), Rosaria Conte (Rome), Scott Page (Michigan), Michael Weisberg (Penn), and Kevin Zollman (SMU) ORGANIZERS: Lee Elkin, Stephan Hartmann, Conor Mayo-Wilson, and Gregory Wheeler On the day before the conference, i.e. on 10 December, we offer tutorials on programming agent-based models in NetLogo and Python. For details, click the above-mentioned webpage.