The key to scientific understanding: DEKI and stability

Abstract

This paper combines discussions of scientific representation and scientific understanding. While both topics have generated substantial philosophical debate, the systematic relationships between philosophical accounts of each have been underexplored. We take a step in connecting these two debates by integrating two specific accounts: the DEKI account of representation and the SU account of scientific understanding. We argue that whether a model provides understanding depends essentially on how it represents its target, and we develop necessary conditions on noetic model-representation pairs.