Artificial life uses computers acid formal systems to model and explore the dynamics of evolution. A fundamental question for A-Life concerns the role of computation in these models, and how we are to interpret computer implementations that do not have actual contact with physical systems. In this paper I will discuss how models are seen to explain and predict in philosophy of science and how these ideas apply to A-Life. I will also explore how the notion of an epistemic cut, as defined by H. Patter, can be realized in a computational model with an artificial physical world. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. [References: 16]
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