Phil 8: Introduction to Philosophy of Science

Outline 21: The Deductive-Nomological Model

I. Introduction

A. Confirmation vs Explanation
a. We have talked a lot about reasons to believe various claims.
b. But another goal of science is to explain why events occur.

B. Scientific explanation vs other kinds of explanation

a. Mathematical, aesthetic explanation
b. How question explanations
c. What question explanations
d. Rough idea: a scientific explanation seeks to make understandable some
particular event or general fact by appealing to other particular events or
general facts drawn from one or more branches of empirical science.

C. As a rule of thumb, scientific explanations can be requested with “why-questions”.

D. Terminology
a. “Explanandum” is the thing that’s being explained.
b. “Explanans” is the thing that’s doing the explaining.

II. Deductive-Nomological (DN) model:

A. Motivated by the thought that canonical scientific explanations show why an

event occurred by showing what laws of nature predicted the event would
occur.

B. Four jointly sufficient conditions for being a scientific explanation:

1. The explanans consists of the premises of a deductively valid

argument whose conclusion is the explanandum.
2. The premises are true.
3. At least one of the premises must be a law of nature, without
which the argument would not be valid.
4. The explanans must be empirically verifiable (testable by
observation/experiment)
III. Criticisms

A. Conditions are not sufficient

i. Flagpole/Shadow

Ex. Flagpole is 12’ tall.

Angle of elevation of the sun is 53.13 degrees.
____________________________________
Flagpole shadow is 9’ long.

Flagpole shadow is 9’ long.

Angle of elevation of the sun is 53.13 degrees.
____________________________________
Flagpole is 12’ tall.

ii. Solar Eclipse

iii. Barometer/Storm
iv. Man and the Pill

B. Conditions are not necessary

i. The ink stain