Conjunctive Explanations : The Nature, Epistemology, and Psychology of Explanatory Multiplicity

Philosophers and psychologists are increasingly investigating the conditions under which multiple explanations are better in conjunction than they are individually. This book brings together leading scholars to provide an interdisciplinary and unified discussion of such “conjunctive explanations.” The book starts with an introductory chapter expounding the notion of conjunctive explanation and motivating a multifaceted approach to its study. The remaining chapters are divided into three parts. Part I includes chapters on “The Nature of Conjunctive Explanations.” Each chapter illustrates distinct ways in which explanatory multiplicity is motivated by a careful study of the nature and concept of explanation. The second part (“Reasoning About Conjunctive Explanations”) includes chapters on the epistemology and logic of conjunctive explanations. Here the contributors propose and evaluate various norms for reasoning correctly about and to conjunctive explanations. Part III concerns “The Psychology of Conjunctive Explanations,” with contributions discussing conditions under which humans entertain and hold multiple explanations of single explananda simultaneously and the cognitive limitations and capacities for doing so. __Conjunctive Explanations__ will be of interest to researchers and advanced students working on explanation in philosophy of science, epistemology, philosophical logic, and cognitive psychology. Philosophers and psychologists are increasingly investigating the conditions under which multiple explanations are better in conjunction than they are individually. This book brings together leading scholars to provide an interdisciplinary and unified discussion of such “conjunctive explanations.” The book starts with an introductory chapter expounding the notion of conjunctive explanation and motivating a multifaceted approach to its study. The remaining chapters are divided into three parts. Part I includes chapters on “The Nature of Conjunctive Explanations.” Each chapter illustrates distinct ways in which explanatory multiplicity is motivated by a careful study of the nature and concept of explanation. The second part (“Reasoning About Conjunctive Explanations”) includes chapters on the epistemology and logic of conjunctive explanations. Here the contributors propose and evaluate various norms for reasoning correctly about and to conjunctive explanations. Part III concerns “The Psychology of Conjunctive Explanations,” with contributions discussing conditions under which humans entertain and hold multiple explanations of single explananda simultaneously and the cognitive limitations and capacities for doing so. Conjunctive Explanations will be of interest to researchers and advanced students working on explanation in philosophy of science, epistemology, philosophical logic, and cognitive psychology. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 List of Contributors 8 Introduction 10 Part 1 The Nature of Conjunctive Explanations 16 1 The Intricate Conjunction, Coexistence, Competition, and Cooperation Between Functional and Mechanistic Explanations 18 2 Multiple Patterns, Multiple Explanations 47 3 Individual and Structural Explanation in Scientific and Folk Economics 58 Part 2 Reasoning About Conjunctive Explanations 94 4 The Role of Explanation in Epistemic Evaluation: Comparative vs. Non-Comparative 96 5 Conjunctive Explanations: A Coherentist Appraisal 120 6 Conjunctive Explanation: Is the Explanatory Gain Worth the Cost? 152 7 On the Mutual Exclusivity of Competing Hypotheses 179 Part 3 The Psychology of Conjunctive Explanations 204 8 Best Explanations, Natural Concepts, and Optimal Design 206 9 Scientific and Religious Explanations, Together and Apart 228 10 When Competing Explanations Converge: Coronavirus as a Case Study for Why Scientific Explanations Coexist With Folk Explanations 255 Index 278 David,H.,Glass;,Steve,Petersen;,Alexandra,Bradner;,Seth,Chin-Parker;,explanatory,gain;,Jonah,N.,Schupbach;,Chrysostomos,Mantzavinos;,Leah,Henderson;,Samuel,G.,B.,Johnson;,scientific,explanation;,conjunctive,explanation;,epistemic,evaluation;,explanatory,cost;,Frank,Keil;,Tomoji,Shogenji;,Tania,Lombrozo;,Michiru,Nagatsu;,philosophy,of,science;,explanation;,explanatory,multiplicity;,epistemology,of,reasoning;,natural,concepts;,Igor,Douven;,inference,to,the,best,explanation;,Stephan,Hartmann;,Andrew,Shtulman;,conjunction;,folk,explanations David H. Glass,Steve Petersen,Alexandra Bradner,Seth Chin-Parker,explanatory gain,Jonah N. Schupbach,Chrysostomos Mantzavinos,Leah Henderson,Samuel G. B. Johnson,scientific explanation,conjunctive explanation,epistemic evaluation,explanatory cost,Frank Keil,Tomoji Shogenji,Tania Lombrozo,Michiru Nagatsu,philosophy of science,explanation,explanatory multiplicity,epistemology of reasoning,natural concepts,Igor Douven,inference to the best explanation,Stephan Hartmann,Andrew Shtulman,conjunction,folk explanations