Explaining Explanation

by David-Hillel Ruben

Overview

In Explaining Explanation, David-Hillel Ruben provides a non-technical discussion of some of the main historical attempts to explain the concept of explanation, examining the works of Plato, Aristotle, John Stuart Mill, and Carl Hempel. Building on and developing the

insights of these historical figures, he concludes with his own original and challenging view of explanation. Ruben relates the concept of explanation to both epistemological and metaphysical issues. Not content to confine the concept to the realm of philosophy of science, he examines it

within a far more broadly conceived theory of knowledge.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415087650
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/12/1992
Series:	Problems of Philosophy
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	278
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements Getting our Bearings Plato on Explanation Aristotle on Explanation Mill and Hempel on Explanation The Ontology of Explanation Arguments, Laws and Explanation A Realist Theory of Explanation Notes Bibliography Name Index Subject Index

field (Choice)

admirable clarity and concision . . . Ruben has interesting and insightful things to say about every topic he discusses (Mind)

Editorial Reviews

This book offers a splendid critical discussion of philosophical work on explanation . . . of special interest is Ruben’s view of the place of laws in explanation, which has been substantially modified and sharpened in this second edition.”
—Elliott Sober, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Reviews from the first edition:

“Explaining Explanation is what many books claim to be, but few actually are—a book that is both accessible to ‘the advanced undergraduate’ and of interest to professional philosophers. It presents a good overview of a wide spectrum of work on explanation with admirable clarity and concision.”
—Mind

“A thoughtful exploration rather than a manifesto. It shows someone hard at work wrestling with difficult problems and committed to helping others to do the same.”
—Peter Lipton in The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science

“Explaining Explanation contains a great many important and stimulating discussions. . . . I strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in causation and explanation.”
—James Woodward in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research

“The volume succeeds admirably in being accessible to undergraduates and helpful to specialists in the field.”
—Choice

From the Publisher