Full Idea
Here is my main thesis: to explain an event is to provide some information about its causal history.
Gist of Idea
To explain an event is to provide some information about its causal history
Source
David Lewis (Causal Explanation [1986], II)
Book Reference
Lewis,David: 'Philosophical Papers Vol.2' [OUP 1986], p.217
A Reaction
The obvious thought is that you might provide some tiny and barely relevant part of that causal history, such as a bird perched on the Titanic's iceberg. So how do we distinguish the 'important' causal information?