Explanatory priority monism

Philosophical Studies 178 (4):1339-1359 (2020)
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Abstract

Explanations are backed by many different relations: causation, grounding, and arguably others too. But why are these different relations capable of backing explanations? In virtue of what are they explanatory? In this paper, I propose and defend a monistic account of explanation-backing relations. On my account, there is a single relation which backs all cases of explanation, and which explains why those other relations are explanation-backing.

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2021

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10.1007/s11098-020-01478-z

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Isaac Wilhelm
National University of Singapore

Citations of this work

Social Ontology.Brian Epstein - 2018 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Centering the Principal Principle.Isaac Wilhelm - 2020 - Philosophical Studies 178 (6):1897-1915.
Explanatory circles.Isaac Wilhelm - 2024 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 108 (C):84-92.
Platonism and Intra-mathematical Explanation.Sam Baron - forthcoming - Philosophical Quarterly.

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References found in this work

Depth: An Account of Scientific Explanation.Michael Strevens - 2008 - Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
No Work for a Theory of Grounding.Jessica M. Wilson - 2014 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 57 (5-6):535-579.

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