A First Step Toward Ontic Pluralism in Mathematical Explanation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v12i2.4239Keywords:
Ontic, Mathematical explanation, Mathematical practice, Philosophy of mathematicsAbstract
Although discussions about the nature of mathematical explanation are scarce in the philosophy literature, mathematical explanation plays an integral role in the philosophy of mathematical practice and has important consequences in other branches of philosophy. Various proposals are given to describe the criteria that make certain mathematical proofs more explanatory than others; however, none has been free from objections. These proposals also differ in important ways, which leads to the divergence of the two approaches to mathematical explanation: the ontic approach and the epistemic approach. This paper analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the popular proposals, defends the ontic approach, and proposes the ontic pluralism account. This new account addresses a significant problem of previous ontic proposals.
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