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14. Science / D. Explanation / 3. Best Explanation / b. Ultimate explanation

[possibility of completely explaining anything]

12 ideas
The best explanations get down to primary basics, but others go less deep [Boyle]
Nature can be fully explained by final causes alone, or by efficient causes alone [Leibniz]
If we find a hypothesis that explains many things, we conclude that it explains everything [Nietzsche]
Science does not aim at ultimate explanations [Popper]
It's not at all clear that explanation needs to stop anywhere [Rey]
Ultimate explanations are in 'grounds', which account for other truths, which hold in virtue of the grounding [Fine,K]
There are four types of bottom-level activities which will explain phenomena [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
Subatomic particles may terminate explanation, if they lack structure [Mumford]
Maybe dispositions can replace the 'laws of nature' as the basis of explanation [Mumford]
To avoid a regress in explanations, ungrounded dispositions will always have to be posited [Mumford]
If the ultimate explanation is a list of entities, no laws, patterns or mechanisms can be cited [Sider]
There is nothing wrong with an infinite regress of mechanisms and regularities [Leuridan]