{"publisher":"Cambridge University Press (CUP)","volume":88,"keyword":["History and Philosophy of Science","Philosophy","History"],"type":"journal_article","citation":{"short":"A. Wells, Philosophy of Science 88 (2021) 1137–1148.","bibtex":"@article{Wells_2021, title={Du Châtelet on the Need for Mathematics in Physics}, volume={88}, DOI={10.1086/714874}, number={5}, journal={Philosophy of Science}, publisher={Cambridge University Press (CUP)}, author={Wells, Aaron}, year={2021}, pages={1137–1148} }","ieee":"A. Wells, “Du Châtelet on the Need for Mathematics in Physics,” Philosophy of Science, vol. 88, no. 5, pp. 1137–1148, 2021, doi: 10.1086/714874.","ama":"Wells A. Du Châtelet on the Need for Mathematics in Physics. Philosophy of Science. 2021;88(5):1137-1148. doi:10.1086/714874","mla":"Wells, Aaron. “Du Châtelet on the Need for Mathematics in Physics.” Philosophy of Science, vol. 88, no. 5, Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2021, pp. 1137–48, doi:10.1086/714874.","chicago":"Wells, Aaron. “Du Châtelet on the Need for Mathematics in Physics.” Philosophy of Science 88, no. 5 (2021): 1137–48. https://doi.org/10.1086/714874.","apa":"Wells, A. (2021). Du Châtelet on the Need for Mathematics in Physics. Philosophy of Science, 88(5), 1137–1148. https://doi.org/10.1086/714874"},"doi":"10.1086/714874","date_created":"2024-01-29T16:25:15Z","publication_status":"published","_id":"51003","status":"public","author":[{"last_name":"Wells","full_name":"Wells, Aaron","first_name":"Aaron"}],"year":"2021","user_id":"89005","publication_identifier":{"issn":["0031-8248","1539-767X"]},"title":"Du Châtelet on the Need for Mathematics in Physics","publication":"Philosophy of Science","abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"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."}],"intvolume":" 88","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"issue":"5","page":"1137-1148","date_updated":"2024-01-29T16:29:18Z"}