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Questions tagged [explanation]

69 questions
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Why can't numbers be 'used up'?

I was speaking with a young student who has been learning about addition and subtraction (essentially functions, but he doesn't know that yet) with the idea of a 'number machine' and he could not understand how when you put '2' into the machine it's…
Confused
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How important is explanatory power when it comes to assessing the likelihood of a hypothesis?

Suppose I predict that John will get into a fight tomorrow and he does. Almost noone will think I can read the future. It seems to be "within" the bounds of chance. Suppose I instead predict the result of every single sporting outcome in the world…
thinkingman
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What is a question?

Sponsored by Socrates: Alcibiades 113, b SOCRATES: Come then, give me the general principle. When there’s a question and an answer, who is the one saying things--the questioner or the answerer? ALCIBIADES: The answerer, I think, Socrates. SOCRATES:…
Xeon
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Does prediction really have epistemic value?

I am having trouble understanding why the act of predicting something gives it any sort of value or makes a theory more likely to be true. If a scientific theory explained everything in hindsight, such as evolution, why would it matter even if it…
thinkingman
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Was Kant an Intuitionist about mathematical objects?

In regards to the ontology of mathematics, as far as I can understand, Kant believed that Mathematical objects existed only as features of our perception that influenced how we viewed things-in-themselves, saying that, for example, geometry was the…
J.M.W Turner
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Hard stuff made easy?

There is a philosophical assumption, inspired by educational didactics, which consists of thinking that any concept, no matter how intricate, can be presented in simple words and easily understood if it is adequately exemplified. The title of the…
Davius
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How does one judge "complexity" of assumptions for the purposes of "best explanation"?

The context for this question is from assessing theological arguments from the point of view of 'inference to the best explanation'. In philosophy (and science), we may wish to argue that some hypothesis 'explains' some facts we observe. In which…
Joe Lee-Doktor
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What is an explanation really?

Let's consider a hypothetical 'Church of the Moon' on a distant planet with a huge moon. The members of this church base all their beliefs about the moon and their religious practices on their holy book of the Moon. When asked about their beliefs or…
user66933
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How is it possible to explain a logical language through a natural one?

Suppose we are to learn a subject like mathematics, then for it's precision and rigor, the topics discussed are described in terms of theories of logic. Suppose a student wishes to learn mathematics, then he must first see some explanation of the…
Reine Abstraktion
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According to Chalmers, can neuroscience resolve the "hard problem of consciousness"?

This is a question that aims to clarify Chalmers's "hard problem of consciousness". Suppose one day neuroscientists figured out how exactly to reproduce all (or virtually all) human experiences through stimulating neurons in different specific…
J Li
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How likely is the simplest explanation of something the correct one?

When assuming how something is the way it is, you choose the simplest explanation. But what is the chance of this actually being the explanation? For example, say a cucumber randomly appeared on the ground. After your initial shock, you would try to…
4117
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How do we answer the question of "what is it"?

What is an electron? How do we answer such questions? If we try to explain it in more fundamental terms, we have to ask what is that and keeps going. So, my question is should we take things like electron, quarks, space, time, consciousness as…
Razor
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What is the relationship between scientific explanation and interpretability?

I am trying to understand the relationship between Scientific Explanation and Intelligibility / Understanding. I believe the former is grounded in the Metaphysics of Causation while the latter is grounded in Epistemology. Is my belief correct and…
Joseph
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Meaning of aphorism 133 from chapter 4 in beyond good and evil by Nietzsche

I have started reading Nietzsche's books and I come across a quote that resonates with me personally as probably with other people and I am curious if someone would like to attempt to further explain the quote or direct me to useful sources. Beyond…
Rick
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Please clarify this answer about the argument

I did not understand how this argument should sound. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/other-minds/#BestExpl The article reads as follows: On this way of thinking, mental states are taken to be inner states of an individual that provide the best…
Robert Antoni
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