Is there a philosophical analysis of scientific extrapolation?

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The discussion centers on the philosophical approach to scientific extrapolation, particularly its significance in clinical research and basic science. It highlights how both fields depend on extrapolating from surrogate models, resulting in composite explanatory accounts derived from diverse experimental setups. This reliance on extrapolation introduces challenges, particularly regarding the lack of mechanistic knowledge in early research stages and the numerous extrapolations that inform these accounts. A recommended resource for further exploration of this topic is "Across the Boundaries: Extrapolation in Biology" by Daniel Steel, which provides insights into the philosophical analysis of scientific extrapolation.
Robin04
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Hi,

Could you recommend a book/essay/anything else about the philosophical approach of scientific extrapolation?
 
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Robin04 said:
Could you recommend a book/essay/anything else about the philosophical approach of scientific extrapolation?

Both clinical research and basic science rely on the epistemic practice of extrapolation from surrogate models, to the point that explanatory accounts presented in review papers and biology textbooks are in fact composite pictures reconstituted from data gathered in a variety of distinct experimental setups.

This raises two new challenges to previously proposed mechanistic-similarity solutions to the problem of extrapolation: one pertaining to the absence of mechanistic knowledge in the early stages of research and the second to the large number of extrapolations underpinning explanatory accounts.
reference;
http://bjps.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/03/14/bjps.axv018.abstract
 

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