Explanation and its Limits (Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements, Series Number 27)

This collection of new essays explores the nature of explanation and causality. It provides a stimulating and wide ranging debate on one of the central issues that has concerned philosophers and scientists alike - the epistemological nature of their enquiries. The volume not only sheds light on some of the general questions involved, but also addresses specific problems involved in explanation in different fields - physics, biology, psychology and the social sciences. Explanation and its Limits is an up-to-date, sharply focused and comprehensive review for all philosophers, scientists and social scientists interested in methodology. Truth And Teleology / David Papineau -- Functional Support For Anomalous Monism / Jim Edwards -- Explanation In Biology / John Maynard Smith -- Let's Razor Ockhams's Razor / Elliott Sober -- Singular Explanation And The Social Sciences / David-hillel Ruben -- Explanation And Understanding In Social Science / John Skorupski -- Explanation / Michael Redhead -- Explanation In Physical Theory / Peter Clark -- The Limits Of Explanation / Richard Swinburne -- Limited Explanations / Stephen R.l. Clark -- Supervenience And Singular Causal Claims / James Woodward -- Contrastive Explanations / Peter Lipton -- How To Put Questions To Nature / Matti Sintonen -- Explanation And Scientific Realism / Philip Gasper -- How Do Scientific Explanations Explain? / Joyce Kinoshita. Edited By Dudley Knowles. The Papers Collected In This Volume Were Delivered At The Royal Institute Of Philosophy Conference On Explanation And Its Limits In September 1989 At The University Of Glasgow. Supplement To Philosophy 1990. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents......Page 4 Preface......Page 6 List of Contributors......Page 8 Explanation—Opening Address......Page 10 Truth and Teleology......Page 30 Functional Support for Anomalous Monism......Page 54 Explanation in Biology......Page 74 Let's Razor Ockham's Razor......Page 82 Singular Explanation and the Social Sciences*......Page 104 Explanation and Understanding in Social Science......Page 128 Explanation*......Page 144 Explanation in Physical Theory......Page 164 The Limits of Explanation......Page 186 Limited Explanations......Page 204 Supervenience and Singular Causal Statements*......Page 220 Contrastive Explanation*......Page 256 How to Put Questions to Nature......Page 276 Explanation and Scientific Realism......Page 294 How Do Scientific Explanations Explain?......Page 306 Index......Page 322 A collection of essays which explores the nature of explanation and causality. It provides a wide-ranging debate on one of the central issues that has concerned philosophers and scientists alike - the epistemological nature of their enquiries.