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Full Idea
An explanation amounts to the removal of the initial surprise that accompanied the occurrence of the event.
Gist of Idea
An explanation is the removal of the surprise caused by the event
Source
Stathis Psillos (Causation and Explanation [2002], §8.2)
Book Ref
Psillos,Stathis: 'Causation and Explanation' [Acumen 2002], p.219
A Reaction
This is a nice simple point. It makes explanation relative. God requires no explanations, small children require many. The implication is that explanations make events predictable, which means they must either offer inductive generalisations, or laws.
| 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] |