PhilSci Archive

Explanations and Candidate Explanations in Physics

King, Martin (2019) Explanations and Candidate Explanations in Physics. [Preprint]

[img]
Preview
Text
king2019_explanations_and_candidate_explanations_in_physics.pdf

Download (279kB) | Preview

Abstract

There has been a growing trend to include non-causal models in accounts of scientific explanation. A worry addressed in this paper is that without a higher threshold for explanation there are no tools for distinguishing between models that provide genuine explanations and those that provide merely potential explanations. To remedy this, a condition is introduced that extends a veridicality requirement to models that are empirically underdetermined, highly-idealised, or otherwise non-causal. This condition is applied to models of electroweak symmetry breaking beyond the Standard Model.


Export/Citation: EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL
Social Networking:
Share |

Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
King, Martinmking@uni-bonn.de0000-0002-6777-3660
Keywords: scientific explanation, non-causal explanation, veridicality, confirmation, higgs mechanism, particle physics, beyond standard model
Subjects: General Issues > Confirmation/Induction
General Issues > Explanation
Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles
General Issues > Models and Idealization
Specific Sciences > Physics
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory
Depositing User: Martin L. King
Date Deposited: 06 Dec 2019 06:47
Last Modified: 06 Dec 2019 06:47
Item ID: 16680
Subjects: General Issues > Confirmation/Induction
General Issues > Explanation
Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles
General Issues > Models and Idealization
Specific Sciences > Physics
Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory
Date: 2019
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/16680

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item