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Series:   Elements in the Philosophy of Mathematics

Mathematics and Explanation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2023

Christopher Pincock
Christopher Pincock
Affiliation:
Ohio State University

Summary

This Element answers four questions. Can any traditional theory of scientific explanation make sense of the place of mathematics in explanation? If traditional monist theories are inadequate, is there some way to develop a more flexible, but still monist, approach that will clarify how mathematics can help to explain? What sort of pluralism about explanation is best equipped to clarify how mathematics can help to explain in science and in mathematics itself? Finally, how can the mathematical elements of an explanation be integrated into the physical world? Some of the evidence for a novel scientific posit may be traced to the explanatory power that this posit would afford, were it to exist. Can a similar kind of explanatory evidence be provided for the existence of mathematical objects, and if not, why not?
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Keywords

explanationpluralismplatonismcausationinference to the best explanation
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in the Philosophy of Mathematics
Online ISBN: 9781009039154
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 25 May 2023

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