The Varieties of Indispensability Arguments

Marco Panza (1) , Andrea Sereni (2)

1 IHPST - Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques
2 IUSS - Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori

The indispensability argument (ia) comes in many different versions that all reduce to a general valid schema. Providing a sound ia amounts to providing a full interpretation of the schema according to which all its premises are true. Hence, arguing whether ia is sound results in wondering whether the schema admits such an interpretation. We discuss in full details all the parameters on which the specification of the general schema may depend. In doing this, we consider how different versions of ia can be obtained, also through different specifications of the notion of indispensability. We then distinguish between schematic and genuine ia, andargue that no genuine (non-vacuously and non-circularly) sound ia is available or easily forthcoming. We then submit that this holds also in the particularly relevant case in which indispensability is conceived as explanatory indispensability.

Mots clés: Indispesability Argument; Indispesability

Domaines: Histoire, Philosophie et Sociologie des sciences; Philosophie

Marco Panza, Andrea Sereni. The Varieties of Indispensability Arguments. Synthese, 2016, ⟨10.1007/s11229-015-0977-9⟩. ⟨halshs-01249016⟩