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Optimisation and mathematical explanation: doing the Lévy Walk.

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 ext...

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Published in:Synthese Vol. 191; no. 3; pp. 459 - 480
Main Author: Baron, Sam
Format: Article
Published: Springer Nature Feb2014
Subjects:
Mathematical optimization
Mathematical analysis
Predatory aquatic animals
Nominalism
Platonists
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        au: Baron, Sam
        affil: School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, University of Sydney, Quadrangle A14 Sydney 2006 Australia
      su:
        Mathematical optimization
        Mathematical analysis
        Predatory aquatic animals
        Nominalism
        Platonists
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        subj:
          Mathematical optimization
          Mathematical analysis
          Predatory aquatic animals
          Nominalism
          Platonists
      keyword:
        Explanation
        Indispensability
        Lévy
        Mathematics
        Optimisation
        Platonism
      ab: 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.
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      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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