Wishful Intelligibility, Black Boxes, and Epidemiological Explanation. Issue 5 (December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: DiMarco, Marina
• Is Part Of: Philosophy of science. Volume 88:Issue 5(2021)
• Page Start: 824
• Page End: 834
• Publication Date: 2021-12
• Subjects: Science -- Periodicals; Science -- Philosophy; Science; Science -- Philosophy; Philosophie des sciences; Epistemology; Periodicals; 501
• DOI: 10.1086/715222
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1539-767X

Abstract

Abstract : Epidemiological explanation often has a "black box" character, meaning the intermediate steps between cause and effect are unknown. Filling in black boxes is thought to improve causal inferences by making them intelligible. I argue that adding information about intermediate causes to a black box explanation is an unreliable guide to pragmatic intelligibility because it may mislead us about the stability of a cause. I diagnose a problem that I call wishful intelligibility, which occurs when scientists misjudge the limitations of certain features of an explanation. Wishful intelligibility gives us a new reason to prefer black box explanations in some contexts.