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Philosophy > William Lycan : Explanation and Epistemology > Flashcards

William Lycan : Explanation and Epistemology Flashcards

1
Q

Whyisexplanationanepistemicnotion?

A

Givinganexplanationimpartsknowledge.

Graspinganexplanationofhowsomethingworksistolearnhowitworks.

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2
Q

WhatdoesLycanmeanby“inferencetothebestexplanation”?

A

Makinganinferencetothebestexplanationismakinganinferencetoahypothesis
thatbestexplainstherelevantdata.

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3
Q

WhatisExplanationism?

A

Explanationismistheviewthatmakinganinferencetothehypothesisthatbest
explainsthedataprovidesgenuinejustificationforthathypothesis.

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4
Q

WhatistheDeductive‐Nomological(D‐N)TheoryofExplanation?

A

TheDeductive‐Nomologicaltheoryofexplanationsaysthatahypothesisexplainsa
setofdataiffthehypothesisidentifiesasetofantecedentconditionsandasetof
lawssuchthatwecanmakeadeductiveinferencefromtheantecedentconditions
andthesetoflawstothedata.

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5
Q

HowisJaegwonKim’sexampleoftheroompaintedwhitethatlater
blackenedanexampleofthe(D‐N)explanationofanevent?

A

Thedataisthataroompaintedwhiteturnedblack.
Thehypothesisisthis:thewhitepaintusedtocolortheroomcontainedlead
carbonate.Thegasusedtolighttheroomcontainedsulfur.Sulfurreactingwith
leadcarbonateproducesleadsulfatewhichisblack.

Hereisthededuction.
P1:Thewhitepaintusedtocolortheroomcontainedleadcarbonate.
P2:Thegasusedtolighttheroomcontainedsulfur.
P3:Leadcarbonatereactingwithsulfurproducesleadsulfate.
C:Thepaintintheroomcontainsleadsulfatewhichisblack.

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6
Q

Inferencestothebestexplanationareanimportantpartofscientific
reasoning.Wereasonweacceptgermtheoryisthatitisaninferencetothe
bestexplanation.Whatdoesitexplain?Howdoesitexplainit?(p.412)

A

Itexplains,amongotherthings,whywegetsickwhenwecomeincontactwith
otherpeoplethataresick.
Itexplainswhywegetbettersometimeswhenwetakeantibiotics.
Withacompleteunderstandingofgermtheory,wecanmakeadeductiveinference
fromasetofantecedentconditionsandsomelawstoalltherelevantdata
concerningwhenwegetsickandwhatittakestogetbetter.

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7
Q

Makinginferencestothebestexplanationisnotlimitedtothesciences.
Detectivestryingtosolvecrimesmakeheavyuseofit.Howmightadetective
useittosolveamurdercase?

A

Afteradetectivehascompletedhisinvestigationandcollectedalltherelevantdata,
hemakesaninferencetothehypothesiswhichbestexplainsthedata.
Forexample,OJbeingthemurderbestexplainsthefollowingdata:
OJ’sfootprintsatthesceneofthemurder
Thevictim’sbloodinOJ’sBronco

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8
Q

Howmightanautomechanicmakeuseofinferencestothebestexplanation
todiagnoseproblemswithyourcar?

A

MycarmakesascreechingnoiseeverytimeIsteponthebrakes.
Thebestexplanationforthisisthatthebrakepadsareworndown.
Sothat’sthediagnosis.
Mybrakepadsareworndown.

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9
Q

Whyareinferencestothebestexplanationinductiveinferencesratherthan
deductiveinferences?

A

Aninferencetothebestexplanationissupposedtomaketheconclusionverylikely
tobetrue.Itisnotsupposedtoguaranteeit.
henwemakeadeductiveinferencefromasetofpremisestoaconclusion,the
premisesbeingtrueissupposedtoguaranteetheconclusionistrue.

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10
Q

Whendecidingbetweenvariousexplanationsforsomething,wehaveto
decidewhichisthebest.Thebestexplanationistheonewithcertain
explanatoryvirtues.Whyissimplicityavirtue?Thatis,whydowelookfor
simplicityinanexplanation?(415)

A

Simplicityisanimportantvirtuebecausethesimplestexplanationtendstobethe
correctexplanation.

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11
Q

. Whatdoesitmeantosaythatonetheoryhasmoreexplanatorypowerthan
anothertheory?(415)

A

Iftheory1hasmoreexplanatorypowerthantheory2,then,theory1explainsa
greaterrangeofdatathantheory2.
QuantumMechanismhasthegreatestexplanatorypowerofallscientific
theories—itissupposedtoexplaineverything.Itisthetheoryofeverything.

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12
Q

Whatisthedefinitionof“Explanationism”Lycangivesonp.417?

A

Itistheviewthatmakinganinferencetothebestexplanationprovidesjustification.

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13
Q

WhatisWeakExplanationism?

A

Itistheviewthatinferencestothebestexplanationcanprovidejustification.

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14
Q

WhatisSturdyExplanationism?

A

Itistheviewthatinferencestothebestexplanationcanintrinsicallyprovide

justification. Itsjustificatorypowersdonotdependonanyotherkindsof
justification.

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15
Q

WhatisFerociousExplanationism?

A

Itistheviewthatinferencestothebestexplanationprovidethemostbasickind
justification.Itiswhatlendsjustificationtoallotherkindsofjustification.

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Philosophy (7 decks)

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