Diagrams, Difference-Makers, nd Background Knowledge

Year, pages: 2019, 823 - 840

It is intriguing how scientific diagrams can facilitate scientific explanations. Philosophers argue that the difference-maker afforded in scientific diagrams can pro- vide an explanation for the phenomenon of interest. I argue that difference-maker alone is insufficient to provide a well-informed scientific explanation. I articulate that the non-depicting relevant background knowledge has a significant role to play in diagrammatic explanations. The difference-makers play the solicitor role in soliciting the relevant explanatory resources from the relevant background knowledge of the depictum. An epistemic aggregation which regiments the relevant background knowledge may provide a well-informed scientific explanation of a depicted phenomenon.

Tee, S. 2019. Diagrams, Difference-Makers, nd Background Knowledge. In Filozofia, vol. 74, no.10, pp. 823-840. 0046-385X. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/filozofia.2019.74.10.3

Tee, S. (2019). Diagrams, Difference-Makers, nd Background Knowledge. Filozofia, 74(10), 823-840. 0046-385X. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/filozofia.2019.74.10.3

Publisher: Filozofický ústav SAV