Scientific Explanation

Abstract

In science, a situation which calls for the explanation of a certain event is a special instance of what we may generally describe as problem-solving situations. The type of situation we have in mind is one where we are aware of something awaiting discovery, something uncertain, undecided or unknown, where we require information capable of improving the level of our knowledge, removing or at least reducing uncertainty, or enabling us to find a suitable solution. In such situations, it is perfectly norihal to speak of problems. From this point of view, as we have already shown, scientific cognition may also be described as the solution of problems. In the section on science as cognitive activity we also showed that two aspects must be distinguished in any analysis of problem-solving situations, namely what is known, discovered and decided already, and what remains to be discovered and decided. For these reasons the expression of problem-solving situations calls for the use of two mutually connected components: questions and answers. Intuitively the connection between these two components is obvious from those situations which are typical for activity in science or in the mastering of the results of scientific cognition. When, in the course of his activity, a scientist arrives at at result, e.g. a result of measuring , observation or experiment, which he expresses in the form of statements, the question presents itself to other scientists, and ultimately to the original scientist himself, whether the result achieved is true.