The Quarrel About Historical Explanation
Beginning of paper
The discussion of the philosophical question of historical explanation
is in reality a disagreement concerning the nature of the philosophic method.
There are primarily two sides taken in this argument, those who agree
with Carl Hempel and those that do not.
According to Hempel a historical event ....
Middle of paper
.... are
inadequate and incomplete.
There are three main divisions of anti-Hempelians. There are those that
agree with Hempel to the point that there are rules and general laws that can be
followed, but a historian's explanation is adequate if all he can provide is a
sketch. The second group states that the general laws are not necessary and as
long as the explanation provides an understandable narrative, it is complete.
The final group believes that only one condition is necessary, and if more
i ....
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Word count: 619
Page count: 3 (approximately 250 words per page)
