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Explanation
 
 
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An explanation is a set
Set

A set is a collection of distinct objects, considered as an object in its own right. Sets are one of the most fundamental concepts in mathematics....
 of statements
Statement (logic)

In logic a statement is a declarative sentence that is either true or false. Strawson however advocated the use of the term statement and for it to be such that two declarative sentences make the same statement if they say the same of the same thing....
 constructed to describe
Description

amin is the bestDescription is one of four rhetorical modes , along with exposition, argumentation, and narration. Each of the rhetorical modes is present in a variety of forms and each has its own purpose and conventions....
 a set of facts which clarifies the cause
Causality

Causality denotes a necessary relationship between one event and another event which is the direct consequence of the first.While this informal understanding suffices in everyday use, the Philosophy analysis of how best to characterize causality extends over millennia....
s, context, and consequence
Consequence

Consequence can refer to a good or a bad result of your actions.* Consequentialism, in Philosophy concerns mainly about what would happen due to the act that is done and regards the act itself as being of less importance....
s of those facts.

This description may establish rule
Rule of inference

In logic, a rule of inference is a function from sets of formulae to formulae. The argument is called the premise set and the value the conclusion....
s or law
Axiom

In traditional logic, an axiom or postulate is a proposition that is not proved or demonstrated but considered to be either self-evidence, or subject to necessary decision....
s, and may clarify the existing ones in relation to any objects, or phenomena xamined. The components of an explanation can be implicit, and be interwoven with one another.

An explanation is often underpinned by an understanding
Understanding

Understanding is a psychology process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to think about it and use concepts to deal adequately with that object....
 that is represented by different media such as music, text, and graphics.






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An explanation is a set
Set

A set is a collection of distinct objects, considered as an object in its own right. Sets are one of the most fundamental concepts in mathematics....
 of statements
Statement (logic)

In logic a statement is a declarative sentence that is either true or false. Strawson however advocated the use of the term statement and for it to be such that two declarative sentences make the same statement if they say the same of the same thing....
 constructed to describe
Description

amin is the bestDescription is one of four rhetorical modes , along with exposition, argumentation, and narration. Each of the rhetorical modes is present in a variety of forms and each has its own purpose and conventions....
 a set of facts which clarifies the cause
Causality

Causality denotes a necessary relationship between one event and another event which is the direct consequence of the first.While this informal understanding suffices in everyday use, the Philosophy analysis of how best to characterize causality extends over millennia....
s, context, and consequence
Consequence

Consequence can refer to a good or a bad result of your actions.* Consequentialism, in Philosophy concerns mainly about what would happen due to the act that is done and regards the act itself as being of less importance....
s of those facts.

This description may establish rule
Rule of inference

In logic, a rule of inference is a function from sets of formulae to formulae. The argument is called the premise set and the value the conclusion....
s or law
Axiom

In traditional logic, an axiom or postulate is a proposition that is not proved or demonstrated but considered to be either self-evidence, or subject to necessary decision....
s, and may clarify the existing ones in relation to any objects, or phenomena xamined. The components of an explanation can be implicit, and be interwoven with one another.

An explanation is often underpinned by an understanding
Understanding

Understanding is a psychology process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to think about it and use concepts to deal adequately with that object....
 that is represented by different media such as music, text, and graphics. Thus, an explanation is subjected to interpretation
Interpretation (logic)

In logic an interpretation gives meaning to an artificial or formal language or to a Sentence of such a language by assigning a denotation to each non-logical symbol in that language or in that sentence....
, and discussion.

In scientific research, explanation is one of the purposes of research, e.g.,exploration
Exploration

Exploration is the act of searching or traveling a terrain for the purpose of discovery, e.g. of unknown people, including space , for Petroleum, gas, coal, ores, caves, water , or information....
 and description. Explanation is a way to uncover new knowledge, and to report relationships among different aspects of studied phenomena.

Some types of explanations are:

  • Deductive-nomological
    Deductive-nomological

    The deductive-nomological model is a formalized view of science explanation in natural language. It characterizes scientific explanations primarily as deductive arguments with at least one natural law statement among its premises....
  • Functional
    Functionalism (philosophy of mind)

    Functionalism is a theory of the mind in contemporary philosophy, developed largely as an alternative to both the identity theory of mind and behaviourism....
  • Historical
  • Psychological
  • Reductive
  • Teleological
  • Methodological

See also

  • Abductive reasoning
    Abductive reasoning

    Abduction, or inference to the best explanation, is a method of reasoning in which one chooses the hypothesis that would, if true, best explain the relevant evidence....
  • Cogency
    Cogency

    An logical argument is cogent if and only if the truth of the argument's premises would render the truth of the conclusion probable , and the argument's premises are, in fact, true....
  • Epistemology
    Epistemology

    Epistemology or theory of knowledge is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge. It addresses the questions:...
  • Explained and Explanans
    Explanandum

    Explanandum and explanans are two forms of the same latin word. The explanans is the participle and means: 'flattening out' or 'making plain'; The explanandum is the grammatical object and refers to that which might undergo a 'flattening out' or a 'making plain'....
  • Inductive reasoning
    Inductive reasoning

    Induction or inductive reasoning, sometimes called inductive logic, is reasoning which takes us "beyond the confines of our current evidence or knowledge to conclusions about the unknown." The premises of an inductive logical argument support the conclusion but do not entailment it; i.e....
  • Inquiry
    Inquiry

    Inquiry is any process that has the aim of augmenting knowledge, resolving doubt, or solving a problem. A theory of inquiry is an account of the various types of inquiry and a treatment of the ways that each type of inquiry achieves its aim....
  • Knowledge
    Knowledge

    Knowledge is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject, what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information or awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation....
  • Scientific method
    Scientific method

    Scientific method refers to techniques for investigating phenomenon, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and Measure evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning....
  • Unexplained
    Unexplained

    'Unexplained' means not explained and may refer to:* Unexplained EP', a 1992 rock music album by EMF'Television'* The Unexplained, a 1990s documentary television series...
  • Rationalization
    Rationalization

    Rationalization can refer to any of the following:*Rationalization , the process of constructing a logical justification for a decision that was originally arrived at through a different mental process...
  • Theory
    Theory

    For a more detailed account of theories as expressed in formal language as they are studied in mathematical logic see Theory A theory, in the general sense of the word, is an analytic structure designed to explain a set of observations....


External links


  • at The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • edited by Constantine Sandis
  • in several languages and meanings