What is the difference between explanandum and explanans?

An explanandum (a Latin term) is a sentence describing a phenomenon that is to be explained, and the explanans are the sentences adduced as explanations of that phenomenon.

What does the Hempel Oppenheim model tell us about scientific descriptions?

The DN model poses scientific explanation as a deductive structure—that is, one where truth of its premises entails truth of its conclusion—hinged on accurate prediction or postdiction of the phenomenon to be explained.

What does explanandum mean?

to be explained
: a word or an expression whose meaning is to be explained —used chiefly in philosophy —contrasted with explanans.

What is required for something to be an explanation?

A really good scientific explanation should do two main things: It should explain all the observations and data we have. It should allow us to make testable predictions that we can check using future experiments.

What is deductive Nomological?

Deductive-Nomological Explanation The deductive-nomological model used to be the standard conception of explanation: one explains a phenomenon by deducing the description of the phenomenon from a law and a description of the particular circumstances in which the phenomenon in question occurs.

What makes an explanation true?

In short, perhaps knowing an explanation is not sufficient—one may need to grasp it—, but to grasp a true explanation one may need to know it. That said, the important point is that one needs to stand in the appropriate epistemic relation—e.g., knowing, grasping, believing, etc. —with an explanation to understand.

What is meaning of adduced?

transitive verb. : to offer as example, reason, or proof in discussion or analysis adduce evidence in support of a theory. Other Words from adduce Synonyms Did you know?

How do you identify an explanation?

How can you tell the difference between an argument and an explanation? Since the difference is one of purpose, ask what purpose a piece of reasoning serves. If it gives evidence that a statement is true, then it’s an argument. If it gives reasons why it’s true, then it’s an explanation.

Why did Carl Hempel and Paul Oppenheim write explanandum?

Carl Gustav Hempel and Paul Oppenheim (1948), in their deductive-nomological model of scientific explanation, motivated the distinction between explanans and explanandum in order to answer why-questions, rather than simply what-questions:

What did Carl Hempel use as a method of definition?

Moreover, in Fundamentals of Concept Formation in Empirical Science (1952), Hempel had endorsed explication as a method of definition analogous to theory construction by taking words and phrases that are somewhat vague and ambiguous and subjecting them to a process of clarification and disambiguation.

Where did Carl Hempel study physics and philosophy?

He studied philosophy, physics and mathematics at the Universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg before coming to the University of Berlin in 1925, where he studied with Hans Reichenbach.

What are the conditions to explain the explanandum?

For the explanans to successfully explain the explanandum several conditions must be met. First, “the explanandum must be a logical consequence of the explanans” and “the sentences constituting the explanans must be true” (Hempel 1948 [1965: 248]).