Froese, Annika
(2022)
Explanation, Understanding, and Counterfactual Dependence.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Philosophical accounts of explanations must provide a criterion that distinguishes between information that is accurate but merely descriptive and information that is explanatory. Many philosophers believe that information about counterfactual dependence relations is explanatory. In other words, explanations inform us about what would have been the case had things been different from how they actually were. If my ingestion of aspirin explains why my headache went away, this entails that the headache would not have gone away had I not taken the aspirin. This dissertation explores the limitations of counterfactual accounts of explanation. One challenge is posed by indeterminism. Since an indeterministic process has multiple possible outcomes, we might think that we cannot explain why the actual outcome rather than some counterfactual alternative occurred. I show that this worry is unfounded. A second concern targets not the focus on counterfactual dependence relations, but the focus on explanation. I discuss what I consider to be the strongest argument for the claim that explanation is not necessary for understanding and show that it is unsound. Finally, I contrast understanding that results from grasping a model that traces counterfactual dependence relations with understanding that results from grasping a narrative, showing there are different, possibly competing kinds of explanation.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
13 August 2022 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
19 May 2022 |
| Approval Date: |
19 November 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
13 June 2022 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
107 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Philosophy |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
scientific explanation, scientific understanding, brute facts, historical explanation, contrastive explanation, indeterminism, probabilistic explanation |
| Date Deposited: |
19 Nov 2024 16:36 |
| Last Modified: |
20 Nov 2024 16:59 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/43137 |
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