Wesley Salmon on explanation, probability and rationality
pp. 39-54
in: Maria C. Galavotti, Alessandro Pagnini (eds), Experience, reality, and scientific explanation, Berlin, Springer, 1999Abstract
The publication of Wesley Salmon's "Statistical explanation" in 1970 heralded a new era for the debate on scientific explanation. Salmon not only broke the predominance of Hempel's theory, that had held the stage for nearly a quarter of a century, but opened a new perspective on explanation. Since then he has devoted a relentless effort to articulating and expanding his view, which represents the most outstanding alternative to Hempel's account. A decisive step in this direction was taken in 1984 with the publication of Salmon's book Scientific Explanation and the Causal Structure of the World, where the traditional (but dismissed) idea that explaining means showing the causes of phenomena was re-shaped in a probabilistic framework. More recently, Salmon has come to see causality as an essential ingredient of a probabilistically oriented view of rationality.
