Integrative pluralism

The 'fact' of pluralism in science is no surprise. Yet, if science is representing and explaining the structure of the one world, why is there such a diversity of representations and explanations in some domains? In this paper I consider several philosophical accounts of scientific pluralism that explain the persistence of both competitive and compatible alternatives. Paul Sherman's `Levels of Analysis' account suggests that in biology competition between explanations can be partitioned by the type of question being investigated. I argue that this account does not locate competition and compatibility correctly. I then defend an integrative model for understanding pluralism. This view is based on taking seriously both the complexity and contingency of biological organization and the idealized character of biological models. On this view, explanation becomes, among other things, the location for the integration of diverse models. I explicate my argument by an analysis of explanations of division of labor in social insects.