Davies, E Brian (2006) Scientific Understanding. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Many of those actively involved in the physical sciences adopt a reductionist point of view, in which all aspects of the world are ultimately controlled by physical laws that are expressed in terms of mathematical equations. In this article we adopt a pluralistic approach to human understanding in which mathematically expressed laws of nature are merely one way among several of describing a world that is too vast and complex for our minds to be able to grasp in its entirety.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Davies, E Brian
Keywords:	reductionism, Kant, Platonism, pluralism, epistemology
Subjects:	General Issues > Models and Idealization General Issues > Laws of Nature Specific Sciences > Mathematics General Issues > Reductionism/Holism General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Physics
Depositing User:	E Brian Davies
Date Deposited:	08 Oct 2006
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2010 15:14
Item ID:	2952
Subjects:	General Issues > Models and Idealization General Issues > Laws of Nature Specific Sciences > Mathematics General Issues > Reductionism/Holism General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Physics
Date:	October 2006
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/2952

Available Versions of this Item

• Scientific Understanding. (deposited 08 Oct 2006) [Currently Displayed]
  • Epistemological Pluralism. (deposited 09 Dec 2006)

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