Hubert, Mario (2021) Understanding Physics: ‘What?’, ‘Why?’, and ‘How?’. [Preprint]
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Abstract
I want to combine two hitherto largely independent research projects, scientific understanding and mechanistic explanations. Understanding is not only achieved by answering why-questions, that is, by providing scientific explanations, but also by answering what-questions, that is, by providing what I call scientific descriptions. Based on this distinction, I develop three forms of understanding: understanding-what, understanding-why, and understanding-how. I argue that understanding-how is a particularly deep form of understanding, because it is based on mechanistic explanations, which answer why something happens in virtue of what it is made of. I apply the three forms of understanding to two case studies: first, to the historical development of thermodynamics and, second, to the differences between the Clausius and the Boltzmann entropy in explaining thermodynamic processes.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Keywords: | understanding, what-questions, why-questions, explanation, mechanism, mechanistic explanation, realism, anti-realism, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, relativity, Aristotle, four causes | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics General Issues > Explanation General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism General Issues > Structure of Theories General Issues > Values In Science |
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| Depositing User: | Dr. Mario Hubert | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 07 Jul 2021 14:05 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 07 Jul 2021 14:05 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 19283 | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics General Issues > Explanation General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism General Issues > Structure of Theories General Issues > Values In Science |
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| Date: | 6 July 2021 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/19283 |
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