Models provide scientists with knowledge about target systems. An important group of models are those that are called general. However, what exactly is meant by generality in this context is somewhat unclear. The aim of this paper is to draw out a distinction between two notions of generality that has implications for scientific practice. Some models are general in the sense that they apply to many systems in the world and have many particular targets. Another sense is captured by models that are aimed at understanding the fundamental or underlying dynamics of a phenomenon, as opposed to how it manifests in each particular case. They have non-specific, i.e. generic targets. While both notions of generality and genericness are legitimate and correspond to different aspects of scientific practice, they must be distinguished. Failing to do so obscures the danger of overgeneralisation faced by general models and facilitates the illegitimate use of generic models as general models. This can lead to a reduction of the explanatory and predictive power of both.

模型为科学家提供有关目标系统的知识。一组重要的模型是那些被称为general的模型。但是，在这种情况下，普遍性的确切含义有些不清楚。本文的目的是区分两种对科学实践有影响的普遍性概念。有些模型是通用的，因为它们适用于世界上的许多系统并具有许多特定目标。另一种感觉是由旨在理解现象的基本或潜在动态的模型捕获的，而不是它在每个特定情况下的表现方式。他们有非特定的，即通用的目标. 虽然普遍性和通用性这两个概念都是合理的，并且对应于科学实践的不同方面，但必须将它们区分开来。如果不这样做，就会掩盖通用模型面临的过度概括的危险，并促进将通用模型非法用作通用模型。这可能导致两者的解释力和预测力降低。