Explanation Via Micro-reduction: On the Role of Scale Separation for Quantitative Modelling

Abstract

Microphysicalism seems the undisputed paradigm not only in solid-state physics and condensed matter physics, but also within many other branches of science that use computer simulations: The reduced description on the micro level seems epistemically favorable. This chapter investigates whether this view can be defended even in those cases where an ontological reduction is not under dispute. It will be argued that only when the mathematical models exhibit scale separation, is the reduced description on the level of the constituents a fruitful approach.