I'd like to think explaining means giving a model simpler than the observations. But this also can be true of a purely predictive model, that offers no "why". Another commenter pointed out that epicycles do simplify - so they do "explain" in this sense.
What defines an "explanation"? What makes something a "why"?
I'd like to think explaining means giving a model simpler than the observations. But this also can be true of a purely predictive model, that offers no "why". Another commenter pointed out that epicycles do simplify - so they do "explain" in this sense.
What defines an "explanation"? What makes something a "why"?