Introduction: Thoughts on Explanation

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.