[MD] Explanation and explanatory power

[MarshaV]

Hey x-man,

If I surrender my thinking to you or your authority ("Scientist David Deutsch"), you might, indeed accuse me of a lack of critical thinking skills.  I have no use for a general consensus, and I choose who's words I admire:

“Therefore, poets do not 'fit' into society, not because a place is denied them but because they do not take their 'places' seriously. They openly see its roles as theatrical, its styles as poses, its clothing costumes, its rules conventional, its crises arranged, its conflicts performed and its metaphysics ideological.” 

      (Carse, James P., 'Finite and infinite Games'


Marsha 
 
 

On Mar 20, 2013, at 11:39 PM, X Acto <xacto at rocketmail.com> wrote:

"Arguments aim to contribute knowledge, whereas explanations aim to contribute understanding.
Arguments and explanations largely resemble each other in rhetorical use. This is the cause of much difficulty in thinking critically about claims. There are several reasons for this difficulty."
 
"Explanatory power is the ability of a theory to effectively explain the subject matter it pertains to. One theory is sometimes said to have more explanatory power than another theory about the same subject matter if it offers greater predictive power. That is, if it offers more details about what we should expect to see, and what we should not."
 
"Explanatory power may also suggest that more details of causal relations are provided, or that more facts are accounted for. Scientist David Deutsch adds that a good theory is not just predictive and falsifiable (i.e. testable); a good explanation also provides specific details which fit together so tightly that it is difficult to change one detail without affecting the whole theory."
 
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_deutsch_a_new_way_to_explain_explanation.html
 
[Ron]
It's one thing to say that each one of us has their own interpretation of a given explanation but
it's quite another to say that one interpretation is as good as the next and imply that through
interpretive power no general consensus may be gained as to the most accurate interpretation
of a given philosophical work. What lends interpretive power is also that which lends explanatory
power.
A good interpretation provides specific details which fit together so tightly that it is difficult to
change one detail without affecting the whole theory.