Tools or Toys?
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A possible explanation why it is so difficult to grasp the research logic behind social simulations is that the models and simulations do themselves face much stronger obstacles in the social sciences than in most of the natural sciences. If it proves hard to justify models and simulations in the social sciences then the simple reason may be that very often there is no justification for using these models. In the following a number of common obstacles for modeling in the social sciences will be examined and the possible epistemological consequences for modeling will be discussed.
It is not claimed that these obstacles are exclusive for the social sciences. Some of them may to a lesser or greater degree also plague some simulations in the natural sciences as well. In this case presumably also the epistemological consequences will be the same. If one is aware of these obstacles it becomes easier to understand the specific epistemological conditions of models and simulations in the social sciences.