2014 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
Introduction: Thoughts on Explanation
Authors : Michael Lissack, Abraham Graber
Published in: Modes of Explanation
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan US
Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.
Select sections of text to find matching patents with Artificial Intelligence. powered by
Select sections of text to find additional relevant content using AI-assisted search. powered by
This is a book about explanation. Its origins lie in the all too frequent observation that our way of thinking often does not match the world. Such mismatches give rise to ambiguity and uncertainty. The ambiguity, in turn, acts as both a constraint on possible actions (including the action of reliable prediction) and the desire to “explain” what is going on. Explanation is the name for the process we use to answer the questions raised by observed ambiguities. Explanation is also the name for the product of such processes. This process/product divergence is merely a hint of the many conflicting approaches to be found in the contemporary understanding of explanation. This book is the first in decades to attempt to bring these conflicting approaches together and to offer a compelling narrative to explore how those conf licts can converge.