Calculation, bookkeeping, representation, and explanation: a parable
Summary Our topic is a basic discussion of what it is to regard a bit of mathematics as referring to something physical, and the different options one has for explaining -and hence rendering non-miraculous- the empirical success of a mathematical formalism. In order to strip away as much extraneous distraction as possible, we will leave the particular case of the wavefunction in quantum theory aside and tell a simpler tale. A fairy tale, in fact. The aim is to foreground some possible relations between a mathematical formalism and the physical system it is used to represent.
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| Format: | Digital revista |
| Language: | English |
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Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas
2021
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| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0011-15032021000300045 |
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