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Alan Garfinkel

Forms of Explanation: Rethinking the Questions in Social Theory (Rethinking the Questions of Social Theory) Paperback – July 25, 1990

by Alan Garfinkel (Author)

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What makes one explanation better than another? How can we tell when an explanation has really answered our question? In a lively and readable discussion, Garfinkel argues that the key to understanding an explanation is to discover what question is really being answered. He then suggests criteria for a good explanation and goes on to examine some classic explanations in social and natural science.

Print length

197 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Yale University Press
Publication date

July 25, 1990
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.46 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

0300049021
ISBN-13

978-0300049022
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press; New edition (July 25, 1990)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 197 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300049021
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300049022
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.3 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.46 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,200,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,212 in Social Sciences Methodology
- #61,125 in Philosophy (Books)
- #153,164 in Science & Math (Books)

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Alan Garfinkel

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Alan Garfinkel received his BA from Cornell in math and philosophy, and his PhD from Harvard in philosophy and math. After a stint as a philosophy professor, he became active in medical research, and is now Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at UCLA. He also teaches undergraduates in the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology at UCLA. In 2019-2020 he was the Newton Abraham Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford.

His research is in the use of mathematical models and concepts to understand the mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmias, and the use of mathematical methods to understand pattern formation in physiology and pathophysiology.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Garfinkel

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Andrew Ward

Both the book and the bookstore merit 5 stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 31, 2022

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As the headline states, both the book and the bookstore merit 5 stars. As for the book, "Forms of Explanation" is a clear exposition of the view that what constitutes an appropriate explanation depends on what questions are being asked, and what assumptions are being made. Although some may be inclined to believe that explanatory relativism entails relativism generally, that is not Garfinkel's conclusion, and, appropriately, the last chapter of the book is entitled "Beyond Relativism". If you are interested in how explanations can take multiple forms, and how structural explanations can be used in the social sciences, this is a first-rate, clear, exposition of the issues.

As for the bookstore, Midtown Scholar Bookstore, I also give them 5 stars. When the first copy was lost in the USPS network of postal offices, I contacted them and they immediately (really, same day!) contacted me, apologised for the delay, said they would try to work with the Post Office, and then sent me a second copy of the book by priority mail (this one I did receive). Their messaging was very fast, professional, and their first thought was to make the experience right for the customer (that would be me). The second book was in almost new condition (when in fact I had ordered a fine copy). Now, whenever I order used copies of books (quite regularly) I will immediately look to the sellers and if Midtown Scholar Bookstore has a copy, I will order from them.

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Elena

Contrastive explanation!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 1, 2021

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I just saw a ref to this book when I was researching “explainable AI”. It’s great; the book shows how to structure the framework of explanations, and introduces the idea of contrastive explanation, which is very useful to my work. Found lots of super-cool examples of contrastive explanation in the sciences (Newton, Darwin, market economics). Highly recommended!

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Anon. Philosopher

Scientifically serious, philosophically deep -- also pretty funny sometimes

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 17, 2015

Outstanding. I couldn't believe how brilliant this book was (especially the chapter on reductionism). Garfinkel draws from physics, biology, and sociology to draw some truly insightful conclusions about the nature of explanation and the goals of scientific inquiry. Throughout, the discussion is lucid, convincing, and also really, really fun.

The book starts with an example. A priest visits the criminal Willie Sutton in jail and asks, "Why did you rob a bank?" Willie replies, "Well, that's where the money is."

What's going on here? On one naive view of explanation, an explanation consists in an event to be explained—like Willie's bank-robbing—plus a fact that's playing the role of an explainer, like the fact that banks are where the money is. The problem with Willie's case is that there's just one explainer and one object, so there's just one explanation, but this explanation seems both to work and not to work at the same time. The priest could rightly say "You didn't answer my question!" and Willie could say "Yes I did!" Obviously, an explanation can't both be unsuccessful and successful at the same thing—what went wrong.

Garfinkel argues that the culprit is the naive view of explanation. When we explain an event, we don't just explain it in isolation. The right view of explanation also involves a contrast: we have in mind a background of relevant alternatives, and we explain why one thing happened *rather than some other alternative*. The problem with Willie's explanation was that Willie had different alternatives in mind than the priest did. The priest wanted to know why Willie *robs* banks. Willie told him why he robs *banks*.

This is just a taste of the goodness to be found in Garfinkel's Chapter 1 (plenty of others philosophers have said the same thing since then, but not as clearly). You've really got to read the book to see what Garfinkel does with it—it's remarkably deep, and yet it's so accessible that I'd recommend this book to any interested readers. The recommendation is a bit more urgent, if you do this philosophy stuff for a living.

6 people found this helpful

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WC

Truly a surprising work

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 16, 2012

Professor Garfinkel's erudition is on full display as he explains the pitfalls and fallacies of a number of explanations of social phenomena which are based on individual differences. He argues powerfully against reductionistic approaches as being incomplete, inadequate, misleading, and decidedly unhelpful in problem solving.

Drawing on his comprehensive background in the Philosophy of Science, he presents examples of what are really social phenomena in chemistry, physics, and economics and gives guidance as to how to judge the quality of explanations. Though written by a "poly-math" whose interest range from philosophy, biology, ecology, and economics, this treatment is imminently readable by both academic and lay audiences.

That it has been reprinted by Yale University Press is a testament to its own power of explanation and the engaging manner in which Professor Garfinkel makes his case.

7 people found this helpful

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Dale Launer

Oddly Compelling read for a textbook

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 3, 2003

Verified Purchase

Cutting edge philosophy that reads like a thriller! Can't put it down!

7 people found this helpful

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