Optimality Modeling and Explanatory Generality

Citation: Angela Potochnik (2007) Optimality Modeling and Explanatory Generality. Philosophy of Science 2007 74:5 (RSS)
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Summary

Potochnik supports the use of optimality models as a method of explaining evolutionary phenomena. Optimality models draw from the optimality approach, which explores the phenotypic fitness of a certain trait over a given time within a certain environment. This type of modeling is especially useful when actual genetic information is unavailable for the experiment. According to Potochnik, optimal modeling could be used even in instances when genetic information is available, because this model helps to account for some of the limitations that stem from causal approaches to explanations.

Causal explanations by their nature have to include at least some of the causal factors of the phenomena. Complex phenomena like cummulative evolution require more causal factors, although it is clear that since no one event can be traced back to its very beginning, maximal inclusion of causal factors can be unobtainable. Which factors to include to meet the needs of the explanation is a secondary problem of the causal approach. Potochnik believes that maximal inclusion of factors does not necessarily lead to a better explanation. Rather, she calls for two criteria to be meet: The context of inquiry, which is the context of the investigator and the explanation being sought, and the criteria of explanatory adequacy, a good explanation will not omit any causal factors that if included, would change the likelihood of the phenomena to be explained.

Potochnik sees causal explanations as modular processes, which the various factors interacting to form the entirety of the causal process. Optimality models utilize causal generalizations, as such, this approach draws from causal processes very heavily. Essentially, the optimality approach assumes that, given a set of probabilities, certain causal processes and factors will come to bear to produce the phenomena being explained. An example of this sort of explanation is seen in the clutch sizes of birds relative to latitude, known as the "latitudinal variation" problem in which clutch size is positively correlated to the latitude at which the eggs are laid. The largest clutches of eggs, therefore, should be at higher latitudes, as those areas are increasingly more productive during the spring and summer months, providing more food for parents prior to laying the eggs and for the offspring after they hatch.