View source for Philosophy:Explanandum and explanans

An '''explanandum''' (a [[Social:Latin|Latin]] term) is a sentence describing a [[Philosophy:Phenomenon|phenomenon]] that is to be [[Philosophy:Explanation|explained]], and the '''explanans''' are the sentences adduced as explanations of that phenomenon.<ref name="HempelOppenheim1948"/> For example, one person may pose an ''explanandum'' by asking "Why is there smoke?", and another may provide an ''explanans'' by responding "Because there is a fire". In this example, "smoke" is the ''explanandum'', and "fire" is the ''explanans''.
[[Biography:Carl Gustav Hempel|Carl Gustav Hempel]] and [[Biography:Paul Oppenheim|Paul Oppenheim]] (1948),<ref name="HempelOppenheim1948">{{Cite journal |author=Hempel CG, Oppenheim P |year=1948 |title=Studies in the Logic of Explanation |journal=Philosophy of Science |volume=XV |issue=2 |pages=135–175 |doi=10.1086/286983|citeseerx=10.1.1.294.3693 |s2cid=16924146 }}</ref> in their [[Deductive-nomological model|deductive-nomological model]] of scientific explanation, motivated the distinction between explanans and explanandum in order to answer why-questions, rather than simply what-questions:

{{Quotation|"It may be said... that an explanation is not fully adequate unless its explanans, if taken account of in time, could have served as a basis for predicting the phenomenon under consideration....  It is this potential predictive force which gives scientific explanation its importance: Only to the extent that we are able to explain empirical facts can we attain the major objective of scientific research, namely not merely to record the phenomena of our experience, but to learn from them, by basing upon them theoretical generalizations which enable us to anticipate new occurrences and to control, at least to some extent, the changes in our environment"|Hempel & Oppenheim, 1948|(p.138)<ref name="HempelOppenheim1948"/>}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Concepts in logic]]
[[Category:Philosophy of science]]
[[Category:Linguistics]]



{{Sourceattribution|Explanandum and explanans}}