34 ideas
| 21495 | Theoretical and practical politics are both concerned with the best lives for individuals [Russell] |
| 13047 | It is knowing 'why' that gives scientific understanding, not knowing 'that' [Salmon] |
| 13065 | Understanding is an extremely vague concept [Salmon] |
| 13054 | Correlations can provide predictions, but only causes can give explanations [Salmon] |
| 13067 | For the instrumentalists there are no scientific explanations [Salmon] |
| 13055 | Good induction needs 'total evidence' - the absence at the time of any undermining evidence [Salmon] |
| 13046 | Scientific explanation is not reducing the unfamiliar to the familiar [Salmon] |
| 13058 | Why-questions can seek evidence as well as explanation [Salmon] |
| 13064 | The three basic conceptions of scientific explanation are modal, epistemic, and ontic [Salmon] |
| 13050 | The 'inferential' conception is that all scientific explanations are arguments [Salmon] |
| 13059 | Ontic explanations can be facts, or reports of facts [Salmon] |
| 13049 | We must distinguish true laws because they (unlike accidental generalizations) explain things [Salmon] |
| 13051 | Deductive-nomological explanations will predict, and their predictions will explain [Salmon] |
| 13053 | A law is not enough for explanation - we need information about what makes a difference [Salmon] |
| 13061 | Flagpoles explain shadows, and not vice versa, because of temporal ordering [Salmon] |
| 13045 | Explanation at the quantum level will probably be by entirely new mechanisms [Salmon] |
| 13062 | Does an item have a function the first time it occurs? [Salmon] |
| 13063 | Explanations reveal the mechanisms which produce the facts [Salmon] |
| 13060 | Can events whose probabilities are low be explained? [Salmon] |
| 13056 | Statistical explanation needs relevance, not high probability [Salmon] |
| 13057 | Think of probabilities in terms of propensities rather than frequencies [Salmon] |
| 20959 | Concepts are only analytic once the predicate is absorbed into the subject [Schleiermacher] |
| 21517 | Individuals need creativity, reverence for others, and self-respect [Russell] |
| 21523 | We would not want UK affairs to be settled by a world parliament [Russell] |
| 21522 | Democracy is inadequate without a great deal of devolution [Russell] |
| 21521 | Anarchy does not maximise liberty [Russell] |
| 21528 | Groups should be autonomous, with a neutral authority as arbitrator [Russell] |
| 21527 | On every new question the majority is always wrong at first [Russell] |
| 21526 | Unfortunately ordinary voters can't detect insincerity [Russell] |
| 21525 | When the state is the only employer, there is no refuge from the prejudices of other people [Russell] |
| 21518 | Men unite in pursuit of material things, and idealise greed as part of group loyalty [Russell] |
| 21519 | We need security and liberty, and then encouragement of creativity [Russell] |
| 21524 | The right to own land gives a legal right to a permanent income [Russell] |
| 21520 | That our heaven is a dull place reflects the misery of excessive work in life [Russell] |