Domain-Specific Explanatory Norms and Model Transfer

This paper contributes resources from the philosophy of science to identify how differences between explanatory norms affect model transfer across domains. The body of literature on explanatory norms is rapidly growing (Marchionni 2013, Woody 2003, 2015). This research field has its roots in Humphreys’ seminal work (2002) and its refinement in a series of scholarly publications (2004, 2019). Even though the literature acknowledges the relevance of domain-specific explanatory norms, there is yet no clear consensus on a theoretical framework that allows us to compare such norms in a systematic manner. The aim of this paper is to provide a framework that enables to identify explanatory norms and uses distance between explanatory norms as an indicator of patterns of model transfer across disciplines. By pursuing these goals, this work promises to be theoretically significant and practically relevant. It contributes to the work on domain-specific explanatory norms; and provides recommendations for science-policy assessment of interdisciplinary projects. This way, it shows the importance of grounding the design of institutional factors in philosophy of science work.