Theories of explanation: traditional approaches

Jonas G. Lipski ()

Chapter 2 in Evaluating Competing Explanatory Games in Economics, 2025, pp 37-70 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: I discuss the historically and systematically most influential alternative approaches within the realm of theories of explanation, specifically Hempel’s, Van Fraassen’s, Kitcher’s, and Salmon's ideas. I demonstrate that these theories fail in their goals and are characterized by a problematic understanding of doing the philosophy of science. Kitcher's and Salmon's theories in particular display the problem of conservative bias, which makes them unfit as tools to evaluate explanations fruitfully.

Keywords: Theory of Explanation; Unficiationism; Ontic Theory of Explanation; Critical Rationalism; Conservative Bias; Scientific Naturalism; Philosophy of Science (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035357512
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