Mathematical Explanation and Indispensability Arguments
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4351701 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Chris Daly (University of Manchester), Simon Langford (0000-0002-4004-920X, University of Manchester) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue | 237 |
| Pages | 641-658 |
| Publication date | 2009-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Philosophical Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-8094 • E-ISSN: 1467-9213 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9213.2008.601.x |
| OpenAlex | W2000768357 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 22 |
We defend Joseph Melia's thesis that the role of mathematics in scientific theory is to ‘index’ quantities, and that even if mathematics is indispensable to scientific explanations of concrete phenomena, it does not explain any of those phenomena. This thesis is defended against objections by Mark Colyvan and Alan Baker
Epistemology · Index (typography) · Mathematical economics · Scientific theory · Computer Science · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Mathematics · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Philosophy and Theoretical Science
Blasé Attitude and the Modern Digital City
Rules to Infinity
Mathematical Explanation in Science
Unification and mathematical explanation
Mathematical Explanations of Physical Phenomena
The search of “canonical” explanations for the cerebral cortex
Indispensability and explanation
Grounding and the indispensability argument
Not so distinctively mathematical explanations
Good weasel hunting
Optimisation and mathematical explanation
Indispensability and the problem of compatible explanations
Why inference to the best explanation doesn’t secure empirical grounds for mathematical platonism
Models, structures, and the explanatory role of mathematics in empirical science
Evidence, explanation and enhanced indispensability
What could mathematics be for it to function in distinctively mathematical scientific explanations
Dynamical Systems Theory and Explanatory Indispensability
Mathematical Explanation and the Biological Optimality Fallacy
The Metarepresentational Role of Mathematics in Scientific Explanations
Indispensability and Explanation
The Narrow Ontic Counterfactual Account of Distinctively Mathematical Explanation
Platonic Relations and Mathematical Explanations
| Unique citing works | 22 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,29 |
| Citation span | 2009 - 2025 (17) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 21 |