title: The role of computation in modeling evolution.
abstract: Artificial life uses computers and formal systems to model and explore the dynamics of evolution. A fundamental question for A-Life concerns the role of computation in these models, and how we are to interpret computer implementations that do not have actual contact with physical systems. In this paper I will discuss how models are seen to explain and predict in philosophy of science and how these ideas apply to A-Life. I will also explore how the notion of an epistemic cut, as defined by H. Pattee, can be realized in a computational model with an artificial physical world.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, Program in Philosophy and Computers and Cognitive Science (PACCS), State University of New York at Binghamton, 13902, USA. way@binghamton.edu
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Way
mesh_terms: D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001703:Biophysics / Q000266:history; D003198:Computer Simulation; D049673:History, 20th Century; D008954:Models, Biological