Calling for Explanation
(Oxford University Press, 2022)
The assumption that certain facts can’t be mere coincidences—that they call for explanation—underlies influential debates in metaethics, metaphysics, philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of science. Despite its prevalence and importance as a fundamental assumption in so many debates across fields of study, the premise is rarely questioned, and the distinction between facts that call for explanation and those that do not has thus far received little careful attention. My book aims to fill this gap by both mapping out clearly the theoretical terrain and developing a new way of thinking about the topic. I argue that if calling for explanation is thought of as a fixed property of facts that justifies explanatory inferences, as many believe it to be, this leads to a futile philosophical project and confusions in reasoning. I develop the view that calling for explanation is a figurative form of speech without a fixed meaning. This sheds new light on arguments premised on the idea that there is a fact that calls for explanation.
Digital versions are available at Oxford Academic and Amazon. Here you can read chapter 1 or listen to this podcast episode.
Reviews: Marc Lange (Analysis); David Gordon (Phil Quar); Harji Bhogal (NDPR)
“A remarkable book that takes an ubiquitous but puzzling maneuver at the heart of some of the most influential arguments in contemporary metaethics, philosophy of mathematics, and philosophy of religion—the insistence that some claim, if true, would ‘call out for,’ ‘demand,’ or ‘stand in need of’ explanation—and subjects it to relentless critical scrutiny. Anyone seeking to move beyond the metaphors and make sense of these expressions needs to read this book.”
Selim Berker, Harvard University
“The topic of this book is extremely important, but it hasn’t been well understood or even discussed much yet—probably because most of us find it too confusing to say anything useful about it other than to just make some assumptions. So I was very eager to read Baras’s book, and it did not disappoint. It’s superb.”
Sinan Dogramaci, The University of Texas at Austin
“I encountered something worth thinking about on nearly every page of this book.”
Marc Lange, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill