On the Logic of Being and Wigner's Astonishment Regarding the Applicability of Mathematics

Abstract

The Nobel Prize winning Physicist, Eugene Wigner, famously posed a powerful challenge (1960) by asking why is mathematics so effective, especially in the physical sciences. It is possible that the reason for the effectiveness of mathematics is not because mathematics is in any way causative, but instead because mathematics studies the structure of logical possibility and constraint. When plugged into a possible world, mathematics gives us the tools to analyze the logically possible outcomes. Therefore, when a possible world that is expressed mathematically sufficiently aligns with reality, mathematics becomes effective at expressing relationships and outcomes.