COMPUTER SIMULATIONS & THE CHA

Juan M. Duran holds a BSc in Computer Science and a BA and an MA in Philosophy, both from the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina. In 2009, he joined the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Stuttgart and the Stuttgart Research Center for Simulation Technology (SRC Sim Tech) as a research assistant. In recent years, he has visited and studied at different universities, including the University of Virginia and the Tilburg Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science. He is currently finishing his PhD on the explanatory value of computer simulations at the University of Stuttgart and at SRC Sim Tech. Eckhart Arnold has studied Political Science, Public Law and Philosophy in Bonn. After working for several years in the development of E-learning methods in Public Policy teaching, he completed a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Dusseldorf with a study on simulation-based explanations of the emergence of altruism in natural and social evolution. Since his PhD, he has held positions as scientific assistant in the Philosophy and Economics program of the University of Bayreuth, and as Post-Doc in the Stuttgart Research Center for Simulation Technology (SRC SimTech) at the University of Stuttgart. Presently, he works as a lecturer at the University of the Applied Sciences in Coburg.

Computer simulations have become a central tool for scientific practice. Their use has replaced, in many cases, standard experimental procedures. This text includes philosophical studies on computer simulations, as well as case studies from simulation practice, and historical studies of the evolution of simulations as a research method.