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14470 | Explanatory exclusion: there cannot be two separate complete explanations of a single event |
Full Idea: The general principle of explanatory exclusion states that two or more complete and independent explanations of the same event or phenomenon cannot coexist. | |||
From: Jaegwon Kim (Mechanism, purpose and explan. exclusion [1989], 3) | |||
A reaction: This is a rather optimistic view of explanations, with a strong element of reality involved. I would have thought there were complete explanations at different 'levels', which were complementary to one another. |