Farrell, Margaret (2024) Causal properties of narrative explanations tell us what they are and where we’ll find them. [Preprint]
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Abstract
Some scientists produce explanations that seem to have a story-like, or narrative form. Such explanations are especially prominent in the historical sciences, including evolutionary history. To achieve an understanding of explanatory practice in historical science as well as a fuller understanding of the diversity of explanatory practices across the sciences, philosophers of science have proposed accounts of narrative explanation that seek to identify their unique explanatory features. However, such accounts neglect or misidentify the features that distinguish mere narratives from narrative explanations, and narrative explanations from other causal explanations. In this paper, I propose a novel account of narrative explanation that situates it within an interventionist account of causal explanation. Using my account, I propose three dimensions along which narrative explanations can be evaluated and draw several consequences for outstanding disagreements in the literature on narrative explanations. Ultimately, my account clarifies and justifies narrative explanation as a legitimate and distinct form of explanation.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Keywords: | narrative explanation, historical explanation, evolutionary history, human evolution | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory General Issues > Causation General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Historical Sciences |
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| Depositing User: | Margaret Farrell | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 07 Oct 2024 12:08 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 07 Oct 2024 12:08 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 24017 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory General Issues > Causation General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Historical Sciences |
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| Date: | 5 October 2024 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/24017 |
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