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Single Idea 17075

[filed under theme 14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / j. Explanations by reduction ]

Full Idea

The history of science suggests that most often explanation is reduction to the unfamiliar.

Gist of Idea

Scientific explanation tends to reduce things to the unfamiliar (not the familiar)

Source

J.J.C. Smart (Explanation - Opening Address [1990], p.11)

Book Ref

'Explanation and Its Limits', ed/tr. Knowles,Dudley [CUP 1990], p.11

A Reaction

Boyle was keen to reduce things to the familiar, but that was early days for science, and some nasty shocks were coming our way. What would Boyle make of quantum non-locality?

Related Ideas

Idea 16736 Explanation is generally to deduce it from something better known, which comes in degrees [Boyle]

Idea 15960 Explanation is deducing a phenomenon from some nature better known to us [Boyle]

The 18 ideas from J.J.C. Smart

17061 Explanation of a fact is fitting it into a system of beliefs [Smart]
17062 If scientific explanation is causal, that rules out mathematical explanation [Smart]
17063 Unlike Newton, Einstein's general theory explains the perihelion of Mercury [Smart]
17070 Coherence is consilience, simplicity, analogy, and fitting into a web of belief [Smart]
17072 We need comprehensiveness, as well as self-coherence [Smart]
17071 An explanation is better if it also explains phenomena from a different field [Smart]
17073 I simply reject evidence, if it is totally contrary to my web of belief [Smart]
17074 Explanations are bad by fitting badly with a web of beliefs, or fitting well into a bad web [Smart]
17075 Scientific explanation tends to reduce things to the unfamiliar (not the familiar) [Smart]
17076 Deducing from laws is one possible way to achieve a coherent explanation [Smart]
17077 The height of a flagpole could be fixed by its angle of shadow, but that would be very unusual [Smart]
17078 Universe expansion explains the red shift, but not vice versa [Smart]
22405 Negative utilitarianism implies that the world should be destroyed, to avoid future misery [Smart]
22404 Any group interested in ethics must surely have a sentiment of generalised benevolence [Smart]
14611 Metaphysics should avoid talk of past, present or future [Smart]
14613 Special relativity won't determine a preferred frame, but we can pick one externally [Smart]
14614 The past, present, future and tenses of A-theory are too weird, and should be analysed indexically [Smart]
14615 If time flows, then 'how fast does it flow?' is a tricky question [Smart]