Pragmatism and the theory-dependence of explanatory judgments in science.
dc.contributor.advisor | Marcum, James A. | |
dc.creator | Prasetya, Yunus, 1992- | |
dc.creator.orcid | 0000-0003-3902-888X | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2020-11-05T15:02:05Z | |
dc.date.available | 2020-11-05T15:02:05Z | |
dc.date.created | 2020-08 | |
dc.date.issued | 2020-05-28 | |
dc.date.submitted | August 2020 | |
dc.date.updated | 2020-11-05T15:02:05Z | |
dc.description.abstract | Many philosophical accounts of scientific explanation purport to be pragmatic. They claim that what counts as a good scientific explanation depends, in a significant way, on the context in which the purported explanation is offered. I start this project by defending a pragmatic approach to analyzing explanations. Bas van Fraassen’s account of explanation is one of the most developed pragmatic accounts of explanation. So, that is what I discuss next. I argue that it survives most of the objections raised against it. I then argue, from the framework provided by van Fraassen’s account, that the acceptance of a theory sometimes involves the acceptance of a set of criteria for evaluating explanations. This set of criteria is theory-laden, and if an explanatory judgment is made on the basis of this set, it is theory-laden. One implication of my thesis is that inference to the best explanation is not a rationally-compelling rule of inference. I defend this claim in the penultimate chapter. | |
dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/2104/11088 | |
dc.language.iso | en | |
dc.rights.accessrights | No access – contact librarywebmaster@baylor.edu | |
dc.subject | Philosophy of science. Pragmatism. Explanation. | |
dc.title | Pragmatism and the theory-dependence of explanatory judgments in science. | |
dc.type | Thesis | |
dc.type.material | text | |
local.embargo.lift | 2025-08-01 | |
local.embargo.terms | 2025-08-01 | |
thesis.degree.department | Baylor University. Dept. of Philosophy. | |
thesis.degree.grantor | Baylor University | |
thesis.degree.level | Doctoral | |
thesis.degree.name | Ph.D. |
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