Everyday Metaphysical Explanation

Kristie Miller and James Norton present a new account of metaphysical explanation, not as a philosophical technicality but as a feature of everyday life. This is the notion that we all use in ordinary contexts when we give explanations of a certain sort: Miller and Norton build their account on investigation of these explanatory practices.

Format: Hardback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 10 March 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press

The philosophical notion of metaphysical explanation has been subject to an increased level of attention in the previous decade. Despite tantalising claims about how metaphysical explanations are part of everyday life, the everyday notion has not been explored. In Everyday Metaphysical Explanation, Kristie Miller and James Norton take up the task of developing an account of the everyday notion of metaphysical explanation: the notion that we all use in ordinary contexts when we ask for, and receive, explanations of a certain sort. Building on the striking results of their empirical investigation of folk judgements regarding what metaphysically explains what, together with evidence of our ordinary practices surrounding the notion, they build three unique accounts of the phenomenon.

Weight: 634g
Dimension: 163 x 242 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780198857303