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(1991) Existence and explanation, Dordrecht, Springer.

A reason for explanation

explanations provide stable reasons

Wolfgang Spohn

pp. 165-196

Why ask "Why?' Whence our drive for explanation? This is a bewildering question because it is hard to see what an answer might look like. I well remember having learnt in undergraduate courses that explanation is the supreme goal of science. So who would dare ask for more? Some fortunately did.1 One prominent answer is that (scientific) explanation yields (scientific) understanding; and surely, we want to understand things. It is this answer which this paper is about.

Publication details

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-011-3244-2_12

Full citation:

Spohn, W. (1991)., A reason for explanation: explanations provide stable reasons, in W. Spohn, B. Skyrms & B. C. Van Fraassen (eds.), Existence and explanation, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 165-196.

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