RELEVANT SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION AND EPISTEMIC NORMS
Aleksandr Anatolyevich Shevchenko
Institute of Philosophy and Law, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
Keywords: relevant explanation, integrative model, ontology, epistemology, social epistemology, explainable AI (XAI), understanding, epistemic norms
Abstract
The article examines the evolution of the concept of relevance in scientific explanation in contemporary philosophy of science. The author demonstrates how classical formal models, such as Hempel and Oppenheim’s deductive-nomological model, have given way to a pluralistic approach that acknowledges multiple, context-dependent criteria of relevance. Three major challenges to the traditional paradigm are analyzed: (1) the epistemic shift from explanation to understanding as a primary epistemic goal; (2) technological challenges posed by “black-box” AI systems and the rise of explainable AI (XAI); and (3) the social and ethical responsibility involved in selecting which factors count as relevant in scientific explanations. In response, the author proposes an outline of the integrative model of explanatory relevance, which synthesizes three interdependent dimensions: ontological, epistemic, and social-normative. Within this model relevance is reconceptualized not as an external pragmatic constraint but as an internal epistemic norm that determines what deserves attention in scientific inquiry.,
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