Cultural advice

The Australian National University acknowledges, celebrates and pays our respects to the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people of the Canberra region and to all First Nations Australians on whose traditional lands we meet and work, and whose cultures are among the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that ANU Library collections may include images, names, voices, and other representations of deceased persons.

Material in the collection may contain terms, language or views that reflect the period in which the item was created and may be considered inappropriate today.

Backwards Explanation

Thumbnail Image

Date

2008

Authors

Jenkins, Carrie S
Nolan, Daniel

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Kluwer Academic Publishers

Abstract

We discuss explanation of an earlier event by a later event, and argue that prima facie cases of backwards event explanation are ubiquitous. Some examples: (1) I am tidying my flat because my brother is coming to visit tomorrow. (2) The scarlet pimpernels are closing because it is about to rain. (3) The volcano is smoking because it is going to erupt soon. We then look at various ways people might attempt to explain away these prima facie cases by arguing that in each case the 'real' explanation is something else. We argue that none of the explaining-away strategies are successful, and so any plausible account of explanation should either make room for backwards explanation, or have a good story to tell about why it doesn't have to.

Description

Keywords

Keywords: Explanation; Functional explanation; Teleology

Citation

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/1885/31472

Collections

ANU Research Publications

Source

Philosophical Studies

Type

Journal article

Book Title

Entity type

Access Statement

License Rights

DOI

10.1007/s11098-008-9228-y

Restricted until

DSpace software copyright © 2002-2026 LYRASIS