CfP: The Nature and Norms of Scientific Explanation

The Nature and Norms of Scientific Explanation. Philosophical Problems in Science


Special Issue:
Submissions are invited for a guest-edited special issue on scientific explanation. Of particular interest are submissions on (i) the nature of explanation, with special attention to foundational debates between the ontic (‘OC’) and epistemic (‘EC’) conceptions, and on (ii) the norms of scientific explanation, with special attention to so-called ‘ontic’ and ‘epistemic’ norms (intelligibility, accuracy, idealization, completeness, fecundity, etc.). Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:
  • Developments or critiques of OC or EC
  • Explanatory metatheory
  • Explanatory vehicles
  • Fact causation and explanation
  • Idealization, abstraction, or model-based fictions in explanations
  • Non-causal or mathematical explanation
  • Metaphysics of systems explanation
  • Evaluating explanatory goodness in science
  • Norms and aims of scientific explanations
The special issue will offer philosophers of science an opportunity to evaluate these two conceptions and to survey whether any consensus has been achieved on foundational debates, aiming to help settle what it can.

Dates: Full paper submission deadline: December 1st 2022

Journal: Philosophical Problems in Science (Polish: Zagadnienia Filozoficzne w Nauce (‘ZFN’)) is the oldest Polish journal dedicated specifically to philosophical problems involved in and intertwined with modern science (see Journal History). ZFN is an independent peer-review journal affiliated with the Copernicus Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Kraków, and is part of the Open Access movement (much like the journals Philosophers’ Imprint and Ergo). All published articles are made freely and permanently accessible online upon publication, without charges for article processing, access, or subscription, embargo periods, or user registration.

Submissions: Submissions must be made through the ZFN website. In the ‘section’ menu, be sure to select the special issue (‘Scientific Explanation’). Manuscripts should not exceed 10k words. All submissions are subject to the journal’s policies of peer-review and shall conform to the ethical expectations. For more information about submission, see author guidelines. For further questions about this special issue, contact Cory Wright and Ning Shao.