Theism and Explanation - Appeared-to-Blogly

defences, and theodicies, 134–35
de Laplace, Pierre Simon. See LaPlace,
Pierre Simon de.
Dembski, William A., 96–97, 104, 108
Dennett, Daniel C., 151–52. 188 n.54
design argument, 60, 79–81. See also
intelligent design; fi ne-tuning argument.
design stance, 152
Dionysius the Areopagite. See Pseudo-
Dionysius.
discovery, context of. See context: of
discovery
Dover, Pennsylvania, 8
Draper, Paul R., 124, 134–35, 167
n.19, 168 n.35
Dray, William, 186 n.6
Ducasse, C. J., 54, 62
Duhem-Quine thesis, 164
dynamic consilience. See consilience,
dynamic.
E
Earman, John, 13, 26, 75, 169 n.68
Einstein, Albert, 35, 120, 176 n.106,
182 n.11. See also physics: and
general relativity.
electrons, 38, 109, 117, 120, 172 n.3,
185 n.101
empirical content: defi ned, 44; of the
natural sciences, 138; and testability,
117–19, 174 n.73; of theistic
explanations, 15, 44–46, 88, 169
n.71. See also spurious unifi cation.
entailment condition. See Hempel, Carl
G: on entailment.
Epicureans, 72
epistemic optimism, 172 n.6
events and states of affairs, 59–60
event-tokens and event-types, 61
evidentialism, 135
evil, argument from, 44, 98, 124, 137
evolution by natural selection: as alternative
to theistic explanations, 11,
132, 180 n.15; and confi rmationism,
26–27, 37; and creationism, 70, 79;
and vera causa principle, 127.
ex contradictione quodlibet, 50, 51, 78.
See also paraconsistent logic.
Exile, Babylonian. See Babylonian Exile
explaining the explanans, 16, 58,
155–57, 170 n.82, 175 n.103
explanatory redundancy. See theistic
explanations: apparent redundancy
Index 205
of; natural explanations: apparent
redundancy of.
explanations: accepting, 23–27, 37–38
(see also acceptance and belief); ad
hoc, 136; and arguments, 27–29,
153–55; and auxiliary hypotheses,
133–34, 135–36, 165–66, 184
n.77, 184 n.89; best available (see
inference to the best explanation);
causal, 51–58 (see also causation;
intentional explanations: causal
thesis); and chance, 177 n.30, 183
n.35; complete, 175 n.102 (see
also explaining the explanans);
deductive-nomological model of,
170 n.11; deductivist view of,
28–29 ; intentional (see intentional
explanations); and laws (see explanations:
without laws; intentional
explanations: and laws); lovely and
likely, 138, 142; and miracles (see
miracles); paradigmatic (see paradigmatic
explanations); proposed,
potential, and actual, 20–23, 31,
102, 105, 115; and religion, 7–8
religious (see theistic explanations);
singular, 61–63, 189 n.73 (see also
causation: singularist defi nitions
of); solitary (see solitary proposed
explanations); standards of
adequacy (see explanatory virtues);
as success term, 20–21; theistic and
religious, 19–20; theoretical, 33,
34–36, 84; without laws, 161–62,
188 n.58
explanationism, 26–27, 111–12, 182
n.45. See also justifi cationism;
confi rmation theory.
explanations of religion. See theories of
religion.
explaining under a description. See
intentional explanations: explain
under a description.
explanatory force, 90
explanatory success. See past explanatory
success.
explanatory virtues, 112–14, 115,
116–42. See also testability; background
knowledge; past explanatory
success; simplicity; ontological
economy; informativeness.
extraterrestrial beings, 81
fallacy: of affi rming the consequent (see
affi rming the consequent); genetic