Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Donald Davidson, Michael Novak and Peter Schulte

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2 ideas

14. Science / D. Explanation / 1. Explanation / a. Explanation
Explanations typically relate statements, not events [Davidson]
     Full Idea: Explanations typically relate statements, not events.
     From: Donald Davidson (Causal Relations [1967], §4)
     A reaction: An oddly linguistic way of putting our attempts to understand the world. Presumably the statements are supposed to be about the events (or whatever), and they are supposed to be true, so we are trying to relate features of the world.
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / a. Types of explanation
Some explanations offer to explain a mystery by a greater mystery [Schulte]
     Full Idea: An 'obscurum per obscurius' explanation is explaining something mysterious by something even more mysterious,
     From: Peter Schulte (Mental Content [2023], 6)
     A reaction: Schulte's example is trying to explain mental content in terms of phenomenal experience. That is, roughly, explaining content by qualia, when the latter is the 'hard problem'.