The Applicability of Mathematics and the Indispensability Arguments

Lato Sensu, Revue de la Société de Philosophie des Sciences 3 (1):59-68 (2016)
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Abstract

In this paper I will take into examination the relevance of the main indispensability arguments for the comprehension of the applicability of mathematics. I will conclude not only that none of these indispensability arguments are of any help for understanding mathematical applicability, but also that these arguments rather require a preliminary analysis of the problems raised by the applicability of mathematics in order to avoid some tricky difficulties in their formulations. As a consequence, we cannot any longer consider the applicability problems as subordinate to ontological ones: no ontological stance on mathematical entities can offer an easy road to the comprehension of the applicability of mathematics.

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Michele Ginammi
Scuola Normale Superiore

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References found in this work

From a Logical Point of View.Willard Van Orman Quine - 1953 - Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Science Without Numbers: A Defence of Nominalism.Hartry H. Field - 1980 - Princeton, NJ, USA: Princeton University Press.
Theories and things.W. V. Quine (ed.) - 1981 - Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
The Indispensability of Mathematics.Mark Colyvan - 2001 - Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
The nature of mathematical knowledge.Philip Kitcher - 1983 - Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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