Friday, 26 September 2008
Mathematics and Scientific Representation
Christopher Pincock, Purdue University
12:05 pm, 817R Cathedral of Learning

::: photos

Abstract:  One widespread, if not entirely universal, aspect of successful scientific representation is its mathematical character. Unfortunately, philosophers of science have paid little attention to the different sorts of contributions that mathematics makes and it proves a challenge to even formulate the issue in a useful way. Here I make a start on this task by posing the problem in a specific form and considering some potential solutions.