This is an edited version of the original paper. But, apart from compressing two introductory expositions of simulationism into what appears here as section 2 and dropping an argument from the final section that involved an extended description of an experiment, the only deletions are references to a series of diagrams that accompanied the original. The heart of that paper, a series of responses to arguments for simulationism, remains essentially intact.
The paper is structured around this series of arguments and replies, so I don’t need to guide you through it, and I’ll just suggest a couple of things to keep in mind as you read.
• Play close attention to the distinction drawn among alternative types of theory-theories in the introductory discussion of section 3 (p. 382). The different implications of a narrower or wider conception of what such a theory might be like will be an issue in a number of the arguments in the section.
• Think also whether similar questions could be asked in the case of simulation theory. Do Stich and Nichols make assumptions about the form a simulation account will take that are need not be true of all such theories?