Explanation, Understanding, Ontology, and Social Dynamics

Abstract

Retrospective reflections are provided on the papers “Aleatory Explanations,” “Analytic versus Synthetic Understanding,” “Scientific and Speculative Ontology,” and “Endogenous Uncertainty and the Dynamics of Constraints” by Paul Humphreys. Arguments are given for restricting probabilistic causation to situations in which single case propensities are present and for keeping the pragmatics of explanation as a secondary, rather than a primary, feature of explanations. A finite representation schema for ceteris paribus conditions is provided and some suggestions for how to deal with the pessimistic induction are floated. Some reasons why traditional empiricism should not place constraints on the ontologies we use are given. Motivations for a previously unpublished paper that identifies situations in which individual utility maximization strategies perform worse at the society level than do some common individual strategies are provided and the appropriate role for encouraging certain types of constraints on self-interest is discussed.