1st Edition

A Theory of Understanding Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives

By David Chart Copyright 2000

    This title was first published in 2000. Philosophers have been greatly concerned with the nature of explanation, but no account has been fully satisfactory within science or plausible in the wider world. The author asserts that this is due to a misplaced focus and that instead of focusing on explanation, philosophers should consider understanding. This work outlines his theory and defends it against some objections. Attempts to understand understanding can become self-referential, but the book is intended to enable readers to build a good mental model of the author's theory.

    Contents: Introduction; Explanation: a poor foundation; Understanding and simulation; Mental models; Mental models in action; Empirical issues; Explanation rebuilt; Metaphysical matters; Conclusions; Bibliography; Index.

    Biography

    David Chart

    ’Clearly written, this book makes a very useful contribution on an important issue; whilst the general issue of explanation has been widely discussed, Chart's approach is fresh and developed in a creative way.’ Professor Peter Lipton, Department of History & Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, UK