Full Idea
Plato, Aristotle, Mill and Hempel believed that an explanatory product can be characterized solely in terms of the kind of information it conveys, no reference to the act of explaining being required.
Gist of Idea
Usually explanations just involve giving information, with no reference to the act of explanation
Source
David-Hillel Ruben (Explaining Explanation [1990], Ch 1)
Book Reference
Ruben,David-Hillel: 'Explaining Explanation' [Routledge 1990], p.7
A Reaction
Achinstein says it's about acts, because the same information could be an explanation, or a critique, or some other act. Ruben disagrees, and so do I.