Single Idea 13601

[catalogued under 14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / i. Explanations by mechanism]

Full Idea

Explanations of particular events in history, geology, or evolution, are causal explanations, requiring belief in some causal mechanisms. But they are not essentialist explanations because they do not seek to lay bare the essential structure of anything.

Gist of Idea

Explanations of particular events are not essentialist, as they don't reveal essential structures

Source

Brian Ellis (Scientific Essentialism [2001], 4.05)

Book Reference

Ellis,Brian: 'Scientific Essentialism' [CUP 2007], p.160


A Reaction

The explanation might be two-stage, as when we explain an earthquake by a plate boundary rupture, which is in turn explained by a theory of plate techtonics. The relationship between mechanistic and essentialist explanation needs study.