SSH 105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Testability, Internal Consistency, Ad Hoc Hypothesis
28 Apr 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
An explanation is a statement (or set of statements) asserting why or how something is the case. Examples: the bucket leaks because there"s a hole in it. These are intended to clarify, to help us understand (rather than to convince us). Arguments are intended to convince the recipient that a proposition is true. Explanations are intended to show how or why an accepted state of affairs came about. Inference to best explanation always goes beyond the facts. It tries to explain some facts by positing a theory (an explanation) not derived entirely from those facts. It must, because it is not possible to deduce a theoretical explanation from a set of observed facts. Theoretical explanations are theories or hypotheses that try to explain: In particular, theoretical explanations are the heart of a kind of inductive argument known as inference to the best explanation. It scratches the itch of curiosity; as humans we have a deep need to understand.
