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Absences as causes : a defense of negative causation
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2010)
In this dissertation, I confront the issue of negative causation, (i.e., causation by or of absences). I investigate the causal status of absences with regard to particular philosophical concerns and argue that absences ...
Optimality explanations : a new approach
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2012)
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Despite its importance, philosophers have found it difficult to say precisely what constitutes a scientific explanation. One of the most prominent ...
A salience account of explanatory power
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] When we ask questions like "why won't my car engine start?" or "why is John late?" we are searching for explanations. We search for explanations in a ...
Niche construction and the role of environment : towards a new logic of natural selection explanations
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Biological systems may move in, feed on, socialize with, and change the world around it. How should we explain how these systems develop, act, think, ...
Toward a virtue account of science
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2014)
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation argues for a virtue account of science in which foundational scientific goals are achieved by scientists' employment of virtuous tools ...
Niche construction and the role of environment : towards a new logic of natural selection explanations
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] I argue that natural selection explanations are not necessarily externalist, i.e. they don't always cite features of the environment as explanans. In ...
Explanation for the cognitively bounded : psychology and the pragmatics of explanation /
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] People consume, construct, and desire explanations. When our cars break down, hear strange noises in our homes, or a machine won't work, we want to ...