ABSTRACT
In the previous two chapters we examined the theory of evolution. We focused specifically on those elements of the theory that have significant implications for our understanding of the practice of biomedicine. Here we further clarify the standard view of the use of animals in biomedical research, namely, their use as Causal Analog Models (CAMs) of human biomedical phenomena. Then, using insights gleaned from the theory of evolution, we will spell out its theoretical implications for the use of animals as CAMs. In this chapter we specifically focus on CAMs as strong models, models that are supposed to be causally isomorphic to the human systems they model. While strong models are generally recognized to be ideal models, some researchers have asserted the actual existence of causal isomorphisms, and this is part of a tradition extending back to the writings of Claude Bernard.
