title: Evaluating animal models: some taxonomic worries.
abstract: The seminal 1993 article by LaFollette and Shanks "Animal Models in Biomedical Research: Some Epistemological Worries" introduced an influential taxonomy into the debate about the value of animal experimentation. The distinction they made between hypothetical and causal analog models served to highlight a concern regarding extrapolating results obtained in animal models to human subjects, which endures today. Although their taxonomy has made a significant contribution to the field, we maintain that it is flawed, and instead, we offer a new practice-oriented taxonomy of animal models as a means to allow philosophers, modelers, and other interested parties to discuss the epistemic merits and shortcomings, purpose, and predictive capacities of specific modeling practices.
authors: Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. chris.degeling@sydney.edu.au
authors: Chris
authors: C
authors: Degeling
authors: Jane
authors: J
authors: Johnson
mesh_terms: D032761:Animal Experimentation / Q000941:ethics*; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000941:ethics*; D002965:Classification; D006801:Humans; D023421:Models, Animal; D010686:Philosophy, Medical