ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I will focus on the relation between scientific modelling and objective or de re modal features of systems. More precisely, I will discuss how scientific modelling gives us knowledge about possible states of systems and about the ways in which the behaviour of target systems is constrained. I will argue that the concept of invariance is particularly helpful for exploring this relationship. After some stage setting (section 5.1), I will discuss the concept of invariance (of laws) and will argue that such invariances are typically empirically accessible (section 5.2). In section 5.3, I will argue that (some) modal features of the behaviour of systems can be understood in terms of invariance relations. Section 5.4 then concludes by discussing the connections between empirically accessible modal features of the behaviour of systems and some aspects of modelling practices such as abstractions and idealizations.
