Explanation and Understanding - Arnon Levy

Explanation and Understanding

(Autor)

Buch | Softcover
240 Seiten
2024
Routledge (Verlag)
978-1-138-70044-4 (ISBN)
46,10 inkl. MwSt
This thorough and clearly written introduction to scientific explanation is an excellent resource for students of philosophy of science, metaphysics and philosophy of psychology.
Science aims to describe reality, to predict the future and to supply us with technology. But it also aims to explain and understand the world. What does it take to explain a phenomenon? Why are some explanations better than others? How do explanation and understanding relate to each other?

In this thorough and clearly written introduction, Arnon Levy explores philosophical theories of explanation and understanding which can help answer these questions. Highlighted themes include:



What are explanations and what makes some explanations better than others?
Empiricism about explanation: Hempel's Deductive-Nomological model and its discontents
Causation and Causal theories of explanation: From Lewis, through Woodward to Strevens
Explanatory models, the role idealization and abstraction in generating understanding
Mechanistic explanation: What is a mechanism? What kind of understanding do mechanistic models supply?
Mathematical and other non-causal explanations
Understanding and its relation to explanation.

Arguments are fleshed out with examples, chapter summaries, a glossary of key terms, and accompanying illustrations. As such, Explanation and Understanding is suitable for independent study or as a companion to classes in philosophy of science, metaphysics and other areas of philosophy in which explanation looms large.

Arnon Levy is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. His research has dealt with explanation and models, especially in biological contexts. Recently, he has also turned his attention to questions about science, values and the role of scientific institutions in society.

1. Introduction: what this book (and isn’t) about 2. The history (and prehistory) of scientific explanation 3. The Move to Causal Accounts 4. Explanation and Difference-making 5. Production and Mechanistic Explanation 6. Models and Explanation 7. Beyond Causal Explanation 8. What is Understanding 9. Connecting understanding and explanation 10. Coda: the place of explanation. Glossary Index

Erscheint lt. Verlag 23.12.2024
Reihe/Serie New Problems of Philosophy
Zusatzinfo 4 Line drawings, black and white; 3 Halftones, black and white; 7 Illustrations, black and white
Verlagsort London
Sprache englisch
Maße 156 x 234 mm
Themenwelt Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Erkenntnistheorie / Wissenschaftstheorie
Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Metaphysik / Ontologie
Naturwissenschaften
ISBN-10 1-138-70044-4 / 1138700444
ISBN-13 978-1-138-70044-4 / 9781138700444
Zustand Neuware
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