从个体成就到社会活动:功能视角下的科学解释

From Individual Achievement to Social Activity:A Functional Perspective of Scientific Explanation

自20世纪40年代以来,科学解释问题一直是科学哲学研究的核心问题之一,传统的科学解释是从个体层面揭示科学解释的本质特征及对解释项与被解释项之间关系的探究,都有各自的优势,但也存在不能解决的理论困境。当前,伴随大科学时代的来临,科学解释问题的研究也出现了新的研究趋势,即开始越来越重视科学实践在科学解释中的重要作用。安德里亚·伍迪以解释在科学中的作用为切入点,从功能视角研究科学解释问题,认为科学解释不是个体的成就,而是科学共同体的协同活动,充分体现出在科学实践中分析科学解释问题的特点。

Scientific explanation is the central problem of the research of philosophy of science in the 1940 s. Traditional scientific explanation reveals the nature of scientific explanation,and explores the relation between explanas and explanandum at the individual level. Both approaches have their advantages but both with insolvable theoretical dilemmas. At present,with the advent of big science,new tendency arises in the research of scientific explanation,which pays more attention to the important role of scientific practice. Starting from the role of explanation in science,A I. Woody explores scientific explanation from the functional perspective,and thinks that scientific explanation isn＇t an individual achievement but rather a collaborative activity of scientific community. It fully reflects the characteristic of analysis of scientific explanation in scientific practice.