Network representation and complex systems.

In this article, network science is discussed from a methodological perspective, and two central theses are defended. The first is that network science exploits the very properties that make a system complex. Rather than using idealization techniques to strip those properties away, as is standard pr...

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Publicado en:Synthese Vol. 195; no. 1; pp. 55 - 79
Autor principal: Rathkopf, Charles
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Jan2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        au: Rathkopf, Charles
        affil: Graduate Center at the City University of New York, 5674 Frist Center, 08544, Princeton, NJ, USA
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        Mechanism (Philosophy)
        Explanation (Linguistics)
        Social networks
        Mathematical decomposition
        Representation (Philosophy)
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          Mechanism (Philosophy)
          Explanation (Linguistics)
          Social networks
          Mathematical decomposition
          Representation (Philosophy)
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        Decomposition
        Explanation
        Idealization
        Mechanism
        Network
        Representation
      ab: In this article, network science is discussed from a methodological perspective, and two central theses are defended. The first is that network science exploits the very properties that make a system complex. Rather than using idealization techniques to strip those properties away, as is standard practice in other areas of science, network science brings them to the fore, and uses them to furnish new forms of explanation. The second thesis is that network representations are particularly helpful in explaining the properties of non-decomposable systems. Where part-whole decomposition is not possible, network science provides a much-needed alternative method of compressing information about the behavior of complex systems, and does so without succumbing to problems associated with combinatorial explosion. The article concludes with a comparison between the uses of network representation analyzed in the main discussion, and an entirely distinct use of network representation that has recently been discussed in connection with mechanistic modeling.
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    language: English
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