Explanatory Unification
- 1 December 1981
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Philosophy of Science
- Vol. 48 (4) , 507-531
- https://doi.org/10.1086/289019
Abstract
The official model of explanation proposed by the logical empiricists, the covering law model, is subject to familiar objections. The goal of the present paper is to explore an unofficial view of explanation which logical empiricists have sometimes suggested, the view of explanation as unification. I try to show that this view can be developed so as to provide insight into major episodes in the history of science, and that it can overcome some of the most serious difficulties besetting the covering law model.Keywords
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- Explanation and Scientific UnderstandingThe Journal of Philosophy, 1974
- Newtonian Forces and Lockean Powers: Concepts of Matter in Eighteenth-Century ThoughtHistorical Studies in the Physical Sciences, 1971
- On the Origin of SpeciesPublished by JSTOR ,1964