Linguistique de l’écrit

Revue internationale en libre accès

Revue | Volume | Article

235408

Optimisation and mathematical explanation

doing the Lévy walk

Sam Baron

pp. 459-479

Résumé

The indispensability argument seeks to establish the existence of mathematical objects. The success of the indispensability argument turns on finding cases of genuine extra-mathematical explanation (the explanation of physical facts by mathematical facts). In this paper, I identify a new case of extra-mathematical explanation, involving the search patterns of fully-aquatic marine predators. I go on to use this case to predict the prevalence of extra-mathematical explanation in science.

Détails de la publication

Publié dans:

(2014) Synthese 191 (3).

Pages: 459-479

DOI: 10.1007/s11229-013-0284-2

Citation complète:

Baron Sam, 2014, Optimisation and mathematical explanation: doing the Lévy walk. Synthese 191 (3), 459-479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-013-0284-2.