MATHEMATICAL EXPLANATION AND INDISPENSABILITY ARGUMENTS

Chris John Daly · S. C. Langford

81 citations0/0 files storedThe Philosophical Quarterly

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Philosophy and History of Science History and Theory of Mathematics Philosophy, Science, and History

Abstract

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.

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