Presented at CAP in Europe 2009 (Barcelona, Spain)

Abstract. The main aim of this paper is to lay the foundation for a broader meta-theoretical reflection on the practice of the formal modeling of cognitive states and actions. Two examples, one from basic epistemic logic, the other from dynamic epistemic logic are used to illustrate some wellknown challenges. These are further evaluated by means of two oppositions: the contrast between abstraction and idealization and the difference between a properties of the agent reading versus a properties of the model reading. To conclude, some methodological insights inherited from the philosophy of information are proposed as fruitful way of understanding the formal modeling of cognitive states and actions.