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Plumbing metaphysical explanatory depth.

Plumbing metaphysical explanatory depth.

Authors :
Emmerson, Nicholas
Source :
Philosophical Studies. Sep2024, Vol. 181 Issue 9, p2091-2112. 22p.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

Recent years have seen increasing interest in interventionist analyses of metaphysical explanation. One area where interventionism traditionally shines, is in providing an account of explanatory depth; the sense in which explanation comes in degrees. However, the literature on metaphysical explanation has left the notion depth almost entirely unexplored. In this paper I shall attempt to rectify this oversight by motivating an interventionist analysis of metaphysical explanatory depth (MED), in terms of the range of interventions under which a metaphysically explanatory generalization remains invariant. After elucidating the notion through a toy-example, I demonstrate the important work which MED can perform in characterizing debate within contemporary metaphysics. Focusing upon rival approaches to explaining the identity and distinctness of concrete objects, I argue that the progress achieved in this debate can be characterized in terms of increasing explanatory depth. Having made an initial case for the utility of MED, I then turn this analysis to the metaphysics of explanation itself. By adopting an interventionist framework with respect to MED, I will show that we can assess the depth of competing theories of explanation. This application has two interesting results: first, it suggests that an interventionist analysis of explanation provides deeper explanations of the connection between explanans and explanandum than rival accounts; and second, it suggests that explanations provided by interventionism become deeper still, if one accepts that this methodology ranges over metaphysical, as well as causal, instances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00318116
Volume :
181
Issue :
9
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Philosophical Studies
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
179536168
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-022-01886-3