Questions and answers: metaphysical explanation and the structure of reality
Questions and answers: metaphysical explanation and the structure of reality
This paper develops an account of metaphysical explanation according to which metaphysical explanations are answers to what-makes-it-the-case-that-questions. On this view, metaphysical explanations are not to be considered entirely objective, but are subject to epistemic constraints imposed by the context in which a relevant question is asked. The resultant account of metaphysical explanation is developed independently of any particular views about grounding. Towards the end of the paper an application of the view is proposed which takes metaphysical explanations conceived in this way to characterise reality’s structure. According to this proposal, reality’s structure is partly constituted by a projection of our explanatory practices onto reality.
98-116
Thompson, Naomi
b382645c-7f77-428b-871a-8552466ec04d
Thompson, Naomi
b382645c-7f77-428b-871a-8552466ec04d
Thompson, Naomi
(2019)
Questions and answers: metaphysical explanation and the structure of reality.
Journal of the American Philosophical Association, 5 (1), .
(doi:10.1017/apa.2018.51).
Abstract
This paper develops an account of metaphysical explanation according to which metaphysical explanations are answers to what-makes-it-the-case-that-questions. On this view, metaphysical explanations are not to be considered entirely objective, but are subject to epistemic constraints imposed by the context in which a relevant question is asked. The resultant account of metaphysical explanation is developed independently of any particular views about grounding. Towards the end of the paper an application of the view is proposed which takes metaphysical explanations conceived in this way to characterise reality’s structure. According to this proposal, reality’s structure is partly constituted by a projection of our explanatory practices onto reality.
Text
Questions and Answers: Metaphysical Explanation and the Structure of Reality
- Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 16 November 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 1 April 2019
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Local EPrints ID: 426233
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/426233
ISSN: 2053-4477
PURE UUID: bb3f476a-037b-414e-bc05-1e096189205c
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Date deposited: 20 Nov 2018 17:30
Last modified: 26 Jun 2024 01:48
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