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UID:/NewsandEvents/Archives/2009/newsitem/2675/23-
 January-2009-Workshop-Explanation-Indispensability
 -of-Mathematics-and-Scientific-Realism-Leeds-U-K-
DTSTAMP:20081221T000000
SUMMARY:Workshop "Explanation, Indispensability of
  Mathematics, and Scientific  Realism", Leeds, U.K
 .
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20090123
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20090123
LOCATION:Leeds, U.K.
DESCRIPTION:This is a workshop on current perspect
 ives on the indispensability argument for mathemat
 ical platonism. Many scientic realists are willing
  to commit to various esoteric unobservable featur
 es of the world, but at the same time they treat m
 athematical platonism with great suspicion. Accord
 ing to the indispensability argument such preferen
 ce for concrete theoretical posits is unjustified,
  because mathematics plays an indispensable role i
 n scientific theorising.   The present state of de
 bate turns on an attempt at a more precise charact
 erisation of mathematics's role in our best scienc
 e. In particular, it has been argued that the expl
 anatory function of mathematics is decisive here, 
 given the realist's reliance on inference to the b
 est explanation in defending realism about unobser
 vable concreta. If mathematical entities can play 
 a bona fide explanatory role in science, then argu
 ably commitment to those entities follows by infer
 ence to the best explanation.     For more informa
 tion, see here or contact Juha Saatsi at J.T.Saats
 i at leeds.ac.uk.
X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:\n      <p>This is a 
 workshop on current perspectives on the indispensa
 bility\n        argument for mathematical platonis
 m. Many scientic realists are\n        willing to 
 commit to various esoteric unobservable features o
 f the\n        world, but at the same time they tr
 eat mathematical platonism with\n        great sus
 picion. According to the indispensability argument
  such\n        preference for concrete theoretical
  posits is unjustified, because\n        mathemati
 cs plays an indispensable role in scientific theor
 ising.\n      </p>\n      <p>The present state of 
 debate turns on an attempt at a more precise\n    
     characterisation of mathematics's role in our 
 best science. In\n        particular, it has been 
 argued that the explanatory function of\n        m
 athematics is decisive here, given the realist's r
 eliance on\n        inference to the best explanat
 ion in defending realism about\n        unobservab
 le concreta. If mathematical entities can play a b
 ona fide\n        explanatory role in science, the
 n arguably commitment to those\n        entities f
 ollows by inference to the best explanation.\n    
   </p>\n      <p>\n      </p>\n    \n      <p>For 
 more information, see <a class="longdescriptionlin
 k" href="https://www.illc.uva.nl/NewsandEvents/new
 sitem/2675">here</a>\n        or contact Juha Saat
 si at <a class="email">J.T.Saatsi <span class="at"
 >at</span> leeds.ac.uk</a>.\n      </p>\n    
URL:/NewsandEvents/Archives/2009/newsitem/2675/23-
 January-2009-Workshop-Explanation-Indispensability
 -of-Mathematics-and-Scientific-Realism-Leeds-U-K-
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