- This pseudo-Paper is intended as the mechanism to record time spent on the Note 'Explanation1' during my Thesis research, as from 2011.
- For the actual time recorded, click on "Paper Statistics" above.
Write-up2 (as at 06/07/2023 00:43:12): Explanation
Plug Note3
- Thesis Text:
- In the Introduction4 to this Thesis I said that the entire work will be an exercise in inference to the best explanation, so I need to give an account of what an explanation is. The Thesis needs to account for our intuitions5 in response to the various TEs6 and other situations and questions that arise, or else explain them away as confused. If there is a universal response, that is – though this isn’t always the case (consider the ‘transplant intuition7’ that ‘you go with your brain’, denied by card-carrying Animalists, though I suspect they feel the power of the intuition even so).
- This is the underlying reason for the methodology I’ve adopted – to try to tease out all the implications of a theory of Personal Identity – because ‘fixing’ a problem in one area may have unintended consequences in other areas. The entire implied ‘world view’ has to hang together as best as possible.
- I have certain prejudices as to what an explanation is – a bias towards modern scientific as against Aristotelian forms of explanation, whereby an explanation has to fill in the details of mechanism, hopefully with quantification, rather than be vaguely gesturing.
- I need to define and defend this position but, as it’s methodological and somewhat peripheral, without causing too much of a diversion from my main concerns. I can’t get into a full-blown study of the philosophy of science.
References
- Relevant Works cited above: No items to list.
- For a Page of Links8 to this Note, Click here.
- Works on this topic that I’ve actually read9, include the following:-
- A further reading list might start with:-
- General:
- "Carruthers (Peter) - Knowledge By Best Explanation", 1995, No Abstract
- "Earman (John), Ed. - Inference, Explanation and Other Philosophical Frustrations", 1993, Book, Read = 4%
- "Haslanger (Sally) - Persistence, Change, and Explanation", 1989, Internal PDF Link
- "Kment (Boris) - Counterfactuals and Explanation", 2006, Internal PDF Link
- "Lipton (Peter) - Inference to the Best Explanation", 2004, Book
- "Nozick (Robert) - Philosophical Explanations", 1981, Book, Read = 2%
- "Ruben (David-Hillel) - Explaining Explanation", 1992, Book, Read = 2%
- "Ruben (David-Hillel) - Explanation", Book
- For a list of Works that have been considered, but have missed the cut for inclusion in this Section of my Thesis, see the following:-
- Read: No items to list.
- Further Reading: No items to list.
- This is mostly a place-holder10.
In-Page Footnotes
Footnote 2:
- This is the write-up as it was when this Abstract was last output, with text as at the timestamp indicated (06/07/2023 00:43:12).
- Link to Latest Write-Up Note.
Text Colour Conventions (see disclaimer)
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2024