• Idealizations and Analogies: Explaining Critical Phenomena
    Quentin Rodriguez
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 89 (C): 235-247. 2021.
    The “universality” of critical phenomena is much discussed in philosophy of scientific explanation, idealizations and philosophy of physics. Lange and Reutlinger recently opposed Batterman concerning the role of some deliberate distortions in unifying a large class of phenomena, regardless of microscopic constitution. They argue for an essential explanatory role for “commonalities” rather than that of idealizations. Building on Batterman's insight, this article aims to show that assessing the di…Read more