Explaining Understanding

<p>What does it mean to understand something? What types of understanding can be distinguished? Is understanding always provided by explanations? And how is it related to knowledge? Such questions have attracted considerable interest in epistemology recently. These discussions, however, have not yet engaged insights about explanations and theories developed in philosophy of science. Conversely, philosophers of science have debated the nature of explanations and theories, while dismissing understanding as a psychological by-product. </p><p></p><p>In this book, epistemologists and philosophers of science together address basic questions about the nature of understanding, providing a new overview of the field. False theories, cognitive bias, transparency, coherency, and other important issues are discussed. Its 15 original chapters are essential reading for researchers and graduate students interested in the current debates about understanding.</p> <p>List of Contributors</p><p></p><p>Acknowledgements</p><p></p><p>Guide to the Essays</p><p></p><p>1 What is Understanding? An Overview of Recent Debates in Epistemology and Philosophy of Science</p><p></p><p>Christoph Baumberger, Claus Beisbart and Georg Brun</p><p></p><p>Part I</p><p></p><p>Understanding and the Facts</p><p></p><p>2 How Idealization Provide Understanding</p><p></p><p>Michael Strevens</p><p></p><p>3 How False Theories can Yield Genuine Understanding</p><p></p><p>Henk W. de Regt and Victor Gijsbers</p><p></p><p>4 Exemplification in Understanding</p><p></p><p>Catherine Z. Elgin</p><p></p><p>5 Explaining Understanding, Understanding Knowledge</p><p></p><p>Sabine Ammon</p><p></p><p>6 Enlightening Falsehoods: A Model View of Scientific Understanding</p><p></p><p>Soazig Le Bihan</p><p></p><p>Part II</p><p></p><p>Understanding and its Norms</p><p></p><p>7 Must Understanding be Coherent?</p><p></p><p>Kareem Khalifa</p><p></p><p>8 Dimensions of Objectual Understanding</p><p></p><p>Christoph Baumberger and Georg Brun</p><p></p><p>9 An Evidentialist Account of Explanatory Understanding</p><p></p><p>Mark Newman</p><p></p><p>10 Understanding and Transparency</p><p></p><p>Stephen R. Grimm</p><p></p><p>11 Satisfying Understanding</p><p></p><p>John Greco</p><p></p><p>Part III </p><p></p><p>Understanding and the Epistemic Agent</p><p></p><p>12 Towards a Knowledge-Based Account of Understanding</p><p></p><p>Christoph Kelp</p><p></p><p>13 Cognitive Bias, Scepticism and Understanding</p><p></p><p>J. Adam Carter and Duncan Pritchard</p><p></p><p>14 Social Epistemology and the Acquisition of Understanding</p><p></p><p>Emma C. Gordon</p><p></p><p>15 Understanding without Believing</p><p></p><p>Daniel A. Wilkenfeld</p><p></p><p>Index</p><p></p>