Explanation

For the poem by Wallace Stevens, see Explanation (poem).
"Explained" redirects here. For the documentary television series, see Explained (TV series).

An explanation is a set of statements usually constructed to describe a set of facts that clarifies the causes, context, and consequences of those facts. It may establish rules or laws, and clarifies the existing rules or laws in relation to any objects or phenomena examined.[1]

In philosophy, an explanation is a set of statements that renders understandable the existence or occurrence of an object, event, or state of affairs. Among its most common forms are:

  • Causal explanation
  • Deductive-nomological explanation, involves subsuming the explanandum under a generalization from which it may be derived in a deductive argument. For example, “All gases expand when heated; this gas was heated; therefore, this gas expanded".
  • Statistical explanation, involves subsuming the explanandum under a generalization that gives it inductive support. For example, “Most people who use tobacco contract cancer; this person used tobacco; therefore, this person contracted cancer”.

Explanations of human behavior usually rely to the subject’s beliefs, desires and other relevant facts. They operate under the assumption that the behavior in question is rational to some extent. Thus an explanation of why the subject removed his coat might cite the fact that he felt hot and desired to feel cooler, and believed that he would feel cooler if he took off his coat.[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Logic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Explanation at the Encyclopædia Britannica