Abstract
We have briefly considered several contemporary approaches to TEs, with two extreme views, the inferentialist-empiricist and the strong Platonist one, and with several options in between. We now pass to the theory we find most plausible, the mental modelling theory.
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Notes
- 1.
leaving aside the thorny issue if there are cases of understanding that are not cases of knowledge (see papers in Grimm et al.; for general information a good introduction is Chap. 1. of the book, entitled “What is understanding?” by Christoph Baumberger, Claus Beisbart, and Georg Brun).
- 2.
- 3.
Stewart Shapiro has put the point nicely: “My account of the relationship between mathematics and science begins with the suggestion that the contents of the non-mathematical universe exhibit underlying mathematical structure in their interrelations and interactions. For example, it might be claimed that a mathematical structure similar to the inverse-square variation of real numbers is exemplified in the mutual attraction of physical objects. In general, physical laws expressed in mathematical terms can be construed as proposals that a certain mathematically defined structure is exemplified in a particular area of physical reality” (1983:538).
- 4.
See, for instance the work of Netz (1999)
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Miscevic, N. (2022). A Theory of TEs. In: Thought Experiments. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81082-5_4
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