ABSTRACT
Traditional accounts of science and values are concerned with the problem of whether non-epistemic values, such as moral and social values, can legitimately play a role in decisions to accept or reject a hypothesis or in assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of theories. This chapter focuses on the question of whether non-epistemic values are allowed to play a role in the construction and evaluation of models, and if they are, what this role is. The chapter explains how three main arguments against the value-free ideal of science have been applied to models. The chapter also clarifies the distinction between epistemic and non-epistemic values and introduces normative approaches that are meant to replace the value-free ideal of science.
