Cyrille Imbert

ABSTRACT: Whereas relevance in scientific explanations is usually discussed as if it was a single problem, several criteria of relevance will be distinguished in this paper. Emphasis is laid upon the notion of intra-scientific relevance, which is illustrated using explanation of the law of areas as an example. Traditional accounts of explanation, such as the causal and unificationist accounts, are analyzed against these criteria of relevance. Particularly, it will be shown that these accounts fail to indicate which explanations fulfill the condition of intra-scientific relevance. Finally, the significance of this latter criterion is emphasized, and the epistemic benefits of explanations that fulfill it are highlighted

Computer simulations have changed the face of many scientific disciplines. This has attracted the attention of a number of philosophers of science, who have started discussing the philosophical implications of the use of computational methods in science. It was the aim of the conference Models and Simulations that took place at the IHPST in Paris, France, on 12 and 13 June 2006 to bring researchers working in this field together and provide a platform to discuss these issues in a focused way. The papers in this special issue were presented at this conference. We would like to thank the IHPST and the CNRS (département SHS, ATIP “Physique et Calcul”) for generous financial support of the conference. We also would like to thank the authors and referees of the papers for their work, and Vincent Hendricks and John Symons for their support of the project of a special issue of this journal to the topic of the conference.