-
107Underdetermination and the argument from indirect confirmationRatio 19 (3). 2006.In this paper I criticize one of the most convincing recent attempts to resist the underdetermination thesis, Laudan’s argument from indirect confirmation. Laudan highlights and rejects a tacit assumption of the underdetermination theorist, namely that theories can be confirmed only by empirical evidence that follows from them. He shows that once we accept that theories can also be confirmed indirectly, by evidence not entailed by them, the skeptical conclusion does not follow. I agree that Laud…Read more
-
15Representation and Productive Ambiguity in Mathematics and the Sciences (review)Isis 100 137-139. 2009.
-
261Indispensability and ExplanationBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science 64 (2): 255-277. 2013.The question as to whether there are mathematical explanations of physical phenomena has recently received a great deal of attention in the literature. The answer is potentially relevant for the ontology of mathematics; if affirmative, it would support a new version of the indispensability argument for mathematical realism. In this article, I first review critically a few examples of such explanations and advance a general analysis of the desiderata to be satisfied by them. Second, in an attempt…Read more
-
51Numerical Methods, Complexity, and Epistemic HierarchiesPhilosophy of Science 82 (5): 941-955. 2015.Modern mathematical sciences are hard to imagine without appeal to efficient computational algorithms. We address several conceptual problems arising from this interaction by outlining rival but complementary perspectives on mathematical tractability. More specifically, we articulate three alternative characterizations of the complexity hierarchy of mathematical problems that are themselves based on different understandings of computational constraints. These distinctions resolve the tension bet…Read more
-
22Scientific Progress, Understanding and UnificationIn Alexandru Manafu (ed.), The Prospects for Fusion Emergence, Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, Vol. 313. 2015.The paper argues that scientific progress is best characterized as an increase in scientists' understanding of the world. It also connects this idea with the claim that scientific understanding and explanation are captured in terms of unification.
-
187On Bertrand's paradoxAnalysis 70 (1): 30-35. 2010.The Principle of Indifference is a central element of the ‘classical’ conception of probability, but, for all its strong intuitive appeal, it is widely believed that it faces a devastating objection: the so-called (by Poincare´) ‘Bertrand paradoxes’ (in essence, cases in which the same probability question receives different answers). The puzzle has fascinated many since its discovery, and a series of clever solutions (followed promptly by equally clever rebuttals) have been proposed. However, d…Read more
-
33Why does Water Boil? Fictions in Scientific ExplanationIn U. Mäki (ed.), Recent Developments in the Philosophy of Science, Springer. pp. 319-330. 2015.The paper discuses whether the mathematical singularities characterizing first-order phase transitions are 'fictions'.
-
169Understanding thermodynamic singularities: Phase transitions, data, and phenomenaPhilosophy of Science 76 (4): 488-505. 2009.According to standard (quantum) statistical mechanics, the phenomenon of a phase transition, as described in classical thermodynamics, cannot be derived unless one assumes that the system under study is infinite. This is naturally puzzling since real systems are composed of a finite number of particles; consequently, a well‐known reaction to this problem was to urge that the thermodynamic definition of phase transitions (in terms of singularities) should not be “taken seriously.” This article ta…Read more
-
242Reifying mathematics? Prediction and symmetry classificationStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 39 (2): 239-258. 2008.In this paper I reconstruct and critically examine the reasoning leading to the famous prediction of the ‘omega minus’ particle by M. Gell-Mann and Y. Ne’eman (in 1962) on the basis of a symmetry classification scheme. While the peculiarity of this prediction has occasionally been noticed in the literature, a detailed treatment of the methodological problems it poses has not been offered yet. By spelling out the characteristics of this type of prediction, I aim to underscore the challenges raise…Read more
-
37Later Wittgenstein On Essentialism, Family Resemblance And Philosophical MethodMetaphysica 6 (2): 53-73. 2005.In this paper I have two objectives. First, I attempt to call attention to the incoherence of the widely accepted anti-essentialist interpretation of Wittgenstein’s family resemblance point. Second, I claim that the family resemblance idea is not meant to reject essentialism, but to render this doctrine irrelevant, by dissipating its philosophical force. I argue that the role of the family resemblance point in later Wittgenstein’s views can be better understood in light of the provocative aim o…Read more
-
19Neither Weak, Nor Strong? Emergence and Functional ReductionIn Brigitte Falkenburg & Margaret Morrison (eds.), Why More is Different: Philosophical Issues in Condensed Matter Physics and Complex Systems, Springer. pp. 253-266. 2015.The paper argues that the phenomenon of first-order phase transitions (e.g., freezing) has features that make it a candidate to be classified as 'emergent'. However, it cannot be described either as 'weakly emergent' or 'strongly emergent'; hence it escapes categorization in terms employed in the current literature on the metaphysics of science.
Bergen, Hordaland, Norway