Particle Theories. A Sketch of a Structuralist Reconstruction

Particle theories intend to describe the fundamental constituents from which all matter is constructed and the interactions among them. These constituents include atoms and molecules as well as their subatomic constituents, nuclei and their component parts including elementary particles. We consider an alternative to the usual particle theories (PT’s), but dealing with the same phenomena. We call these theories ‘QT’s’. This is an attempt to provide a formal description of the essential features of elementary particle theories within the framework of metatheoretical structuralism.

Axiomatisation and Simulation

The paper discusses the relation between the “non-statement view” of the structuralist program in philosophy of science and agent-based simulation and the use of this relation for a deeper understanding of the verification and the validation of simulation models. To this end it uses the history of the gender desegregation process in German schools in the second half of the 20th century and two simulation models trying to explain and understand this historical process. The relation between the two simulation models on one hand and the structuralist reconstruction of the mental and verbal theory of the observed phenomenon is depicted step by step, showing the verification of the more recent simulation model along the lines of the formal definition of this theory. Finally, the simulation model is used to make two unobservable parameters measurable with the help of the formalised theory, which allows new insights into the historical process.