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Full Idea
Nothing about ontology is at stake in questions of explanation, for explanatory success is contingent upon the modes of presentation of explanans and explananda, and relative states of knowledge and ignorance.
Gist of Idea
Ontology is unrelated to explanation, which concerns modes of presentation and states of knowledge
Source
Stephen Mumford (Dispositions [1998], 06.8)
Book Ref
Mumford,Stephen: 'Dispositions' [OUP 1998], p.140
A Reaction
There are real facts about the immediate and unusual causes which immediately precede an event, and these might be candidates for a real explanation. There are also real mechanisms and powers which dictate a things behaviour.
| 15492 | Explanations are mind-dependent, theory-laden, and interest-relative [Martin,CB] |
| 17084 | You can't decide which explanations are good if you don't attend to the interest-relative aspects [Putnam] |
| 12768 | We accept many scientific theories without endorsing them as true [Fraassen] |
| 13066 | An explanation is just descriptive information answering a particular question [Fraassen, by Salmon] |
| 17089 | Facts explain facts, but only if they are conceptualised or named appropriately [Ruben] |
| 14324 | Ontology is unrelated to explanation, which concerns modes of presentation and states of knowledge [Mumford] |
| 4404 | Maybe explanation is entirely relative to the interests and presuppositions of the questioner [Psillos] |
| 4803 | An explanation is the removal of the surprise caused by the event [Psillos] |
| 6751 | Maybe explanation is so subjective that it cannot be a part of science [Bird] |