[科学哲学自学资料]PS4-理论与说明.pptVIP

第四讲：理论与说明 10. Covering-Law Thesis of Explanation 11. Universal Laws of Nature 15. The Classical View of Scientific Theories 16. Realism Versus Instrumentalism 17. Critiques of the Classical View 第四讲：理论与说明 Prelude: What is Explanation? The sole aim of science: truth. Notions like testing and prediction are all truth-oriented notions. The other aim of science: explanation. People often take prediction as the pragmatic aspect of science whereas explanation is the theoretical aspect, it satisfies our curiocity. The author also admits that prediction and explanation are in fact closely related. What is an explanation? This is the main question of the following two chapters. You will find that it has a very special meaning and usage. 第四讲：理论与说明 10. Covering-Law Thesis of Explanation 10.1 Candidates for Explanation First question: What kinds of things need explanation. Answer: only facts require explanation. E.g., why one year is 365.25 days? Why planet motion is in elliptic? Why apples falls? Non-facts needs no explanation, and ccannot be explained. A fact is usually represented or described by a statement. If the description is good, the factual statement is truth. Since Descartes and Kant, the notion “fact” became elusive. Analytic statements need no explanation, they are truth by definition. Factual statements are contingent statement about contingent facts. Therefore, contingent factual statements requires explanation. Examples: (1) This object floats in water. (2) This bar conducts heat. (3) All ice floats in water. (4) All copper conducts heat. 第四讲：理论与说明 10. Covering-Law Thesis of Explanation 10.2 Deductive-Nomological Explanation of Singular Facts The statement that is to be explained is known as the explanandum. The set of statements that gives the explanation is known as the explanans. What is the relationship between the explanans and the explanandum that must hold in order for the explanans to explain the explanandum? How does the expla