Inference to the best explanation and mathematical realism
Synthese 160 (1):13-20 (2008)
| Abstract | Arguing for mathematical realism on the basis of Field’s explanationist version of the Quine–Putnam Indispensability argument, Alan Baker has recently claimed to have found an instance of a genuine mathematical explanation of a physical phenomenon. While I agree that Baker presents a very interesting example in which mathematics plays an essential explanatory role, I show that this example, and the argument built upon it, begs the question against the mathematical nominalist. | |||||||||
| Keywords | mathematics explanation realism nominalism | |||||||||
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