I will be teaching a course on models, diagrams and toys:
Simulating the World, Remodeling Philosophy:
Long ignored by philosophers of science and epistemologists, only recently the concept of models has come to the forefront of philosophical scrutiny. Nevertheless, since the dawn of discovery and invention, engineers, designers and craftsmen have in one way or another treated models as the most treasured tools in their armamentarium of available equipments and methods. This twelve-session seminar engages with models, broadly understood. We will study a wide range of models, from diagrams to scientific models and children toys, only to arrive at their true significance in simulating our world and re-fabricating it. The first six sessions are centered on the study of models, old and new, in order to grasp what actually counts as a model and learn its range of applications. In the second half of the seminar, we will investigate a model-centered vision of discovery and invention, where philosophy, art, design and science not only are integrated but also help us to rethink and build a different world. The ideal audience for this seminar are people interested in the history of philosophy, science, engineering and design.
For information on how to sign up and the starting date: https://thenewcentre.org/seminars/simulating-world-remodeling-philosophy-models-diagrams-toys/
Toy Philosophy 
In the introductory session you make a distinction between the Library of Congress and the periodic table as classification and description. Library science is not just about shelving books though. LC’s Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records is a conceptual model used for standards, such as Resource Description and Access. LC’s MAchine Readable Cataloging has become, accidentally, ontology. I would have thought librarians’ bound descriptions in linking data, as modular, with the BIBliographic FRAMEwork, seem very much theoretical, one of the most exciting contemporary enterprises of “simulating the world, remodeling philosophy”. Why do you say library science isn’t scientific modeling, or how could it become more scientific?
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