| The philosophical problem of mathematical applicability is that mathematics has been an unexpectedly, almost miraculously, useful tool for Physics. This usefulness has descriptive, deductive and hermeneutic aspects. Each aspect can be set out in terms of the Semantic View of scientific theories, in brief or in detail. The appearance of serendipity is greatly diminished when set out in detail, suggesting that the problem of applicability disappears in a sufficiently sophisticated use of the Semantic View. This offers an explanation of the applicability of mathematics that does not depend on any particular metaphysical characterisation of either mathematics or physics. I conclude that any complex and flexible account of scientific theories would also deflate this apparent problem, making this solution independent of the success of the Semantic View. |
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