On Mathematical Explanations of Empirical Phenomena

ebook Indispensability, Number Theory, and Mathematical Counterfactual Dependence · Synthese Library

By Lars Arthur Tump

cover image of On Mathematical Explanations of Empirical Phenomena

Sign up to save your library

With an OverDrive account, you can save your favorite libraries for at-a-glance information about availability. Find out more about OverDrive accounts.

   Not today

Find this title in Libby, the library reading app by OverDrive.

Download Libby on the App Store Download Libby on Google Play

Search for a digital library with this title

Title found at these libraries:

Library Name Distance
Loading...

This book addresses contemporary issues in the philosophy of mathematics that deal with the role of mathematics in explanations of empirical phenomena. It brings together various debates, such as on indispensability, number theory, abstraction principles, and counterpossibles, which turn out to be highly relevant for evaluating the role of the mathematics in question. The book consists of two parts and has a general introduction of the broader context in which the discussions take place. The first part focuses on the possibility of extracting an argument for mathematical realism in relation to the explanatory indispensability argument, and shows that circularity looms unless a controversial abstraction principle is assumed. It also offers an alternative non-mathematical explanation that makes use of relative interpretation. The second part focuses on the possibility of bringing out the explanatory role of mathematics counterfactually, and shows that, due to the necessary nature of mathematics, any proposal should take into account discussions on the knowledge and the structure of numbers. As a whole, this book is of great use to academic research in the field of philosophy of mathematics.

On Mathematical Explanations of Empirical Phenomena