What kind of epistemology for network analyses?
Network models are pervading ecology, genomics, epidemiology, as well as social science and neurosciences. In this paper, I survey the uses of network analysis in biological and social sciences, distinguishing between various jobs they can fulfill. I explore the various methods based on network anal...
| Publicado en: | Synthese Vol. 206; no. 3; pp. 1 - 31 |
|---|---|
| Autor principal: | |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Springer Nature
Sep2025
|
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=187514921&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 187514921 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00397857 4LI jtl: Synthese issn: 00397857 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep2025 vid: 206 iid: 3 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 187514921 10.1007/s11229-025-05105-4 ppf: 1 ppct: 30 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 1.5MB tig: atl: What kind of epistemology for network analyses? aug: au: Huneman, Philippe affil: https://ror.org/05f82e368 IHPST (CNRS/Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne) and Labex Who I Am (Université Paris Diderot), 13 rue du Four 75006, Paris, France sug: keyword: Studies in Human Society Sociology ab: Network models are pervading ecology, genomics, epidemiology, as well as social science and neurosciences. In this paper, I survey the uses of network analysis in biological and social sciences, distinguishing between various jobs they can fulfill. I explore the various methods based on network analysis. I argue that in many cases they are indeed explanations, such explanations being “topological explanations”, which in turn is a subkind of structural explanations. I defend this view against the idea that network analysis is rather a description than an explanation, and against the claim that it is a kind of mechanistic explanation based on a focus on organization and hence very abstract. In the reasoning, I emphasize the difference between interaction and correlation networks, argue that both of them play roles in explanations, highlight their equivalence as graphs, and acknowledge that many of the debates raised by network analysis stem from the use of both families of networks, notwithstanding their differences. While ‘network analysis’ is not a natural kind, the explanatory potential it holds should be recognized, together with its potential for discovery in the study of complex systems. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Synthese is a copyright of Springer, 2025. All Rights Reserved. item: Synthese holder: Springer Nature dt: @attributes: year: 2025 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|