---
_id: '51003'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: <jats:p>There is a tension in Emilie Du Châtelet’s thought on mathematics.
    The objects of mathematics are ideal or fictional entities; nevertheless, mathematics
    is presented as indispensable for an account of the physical world. After outlining
    Du Châtelet’s position, and showing how she departs from Christian Wolff’s pessimism
    about Newtonian mathematical physics, I show that the tension in her position
    is only apparent. Du Châtelet has a worked-out defense of the explanatory and
    epistemic need for mathematical objects, consistent with their metaphysical nonfundamentality.
    I conclude by sketching how Du Châtelet’s conception of mathematical indispensability
    differs interestingly from many contemporary approaches.</jats:p>
author:
- first_name: Aaron
  full_name: Wells, Aaron
  last_name: Wells
citation:
  ama: Wells A. Du Châtelet on the Need for Mathematics in Physics. <i>Philosophy
    of Science</i>. 2021;88(5):1137-1148. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/714874">10.1086/714874</a>
  apa: Wells, A. (2021). Du Châtelet on the Need for Mathematics in Physics. <i>Philosophy
    of Science</i>, <i>88</i>(5), 1137–1148. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/714874">https://doi.org/10.1086/714874</a>
  bibtex: '@article{Wells_2021, title={Du Châtelet on the Need for Mathematics in
    Physics}, volume={88}, DOI={<a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/714874">10.1086/714874</a>},
    number={5}, journal={Philosophy of Science}, publisher={Cambridge University Press
    (CUP)}, author={Wells, Aaron}, year={2021}, pages={1137–1148} }'
  chicago: 'Wells, Aaron. “Du Châtelet on the Need for Mathematics in Physics.” <i>Philosophy
    of Science</i> 88, no. 5 (2021): 1137–48. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/714874">https://doi.org/10.1086/714874</a>.'
  ieee: 'A. Wells, “Du Châtelet on the Need for Mathematics in Physics,” <i>Philosophy
    of Science</i>, vol. 88, no. 5, pp. 1137–1148, 2021, doi: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/714874">10.1086/714874</a>.'
  mla: Wells, Aaron. “Du Châtelet on the Need for Mathematics in Physics.” <i>Philosophy
    of Science</i>, vol. 88, no. 5, Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2021, pp. 1137–48,
    doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/714874">10.1086/714874</a>.
  short: A. Wells, Philosophy of Science 88 (2021) 1137–1148.
date_created: 2024-01-29T16:25:15Z
date_updated: 2024-01-29T16:29:18Z
doi: 10.1086/714874
intvolume: '        88'
issue: '5'
keyword:
- History and Philosophy of Science
- Philosophy
- History
language:
- iso: eng
page: 1137-1148
publication: Philosophy of Science
publication_identifier:
  issn:
  - 0031-8248
  - 1539-767X
publication_status: published
publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
status: public
title: Du Châtelet on the Need for Mathematics in Physics
type: journal_article
user_id: '89005'
volume: 88
year: '2021'
...