The Limits of Possible Explanation

[Sam]

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Interesting points raised here Mark,

I think the problem comes from your reasoning, i.e. My house is red because I had it painted etc ... In my opinion this simplistic form of explanation cannot be applied to the universe (By which I mean the totality of all things.)

I think it's actuatley quite rational and valid to search for this explanation in terms of governing dynamics and laws, like the development of quantum mechanics and string theory. I think by defining the governing laws of the universe we can gain the explanation ...

Cheers

Sam

If you consider what a scientific theory is, you will see that it is invariably an account of how things are related. Newton's or Einstein's theory of gravitation, for example. You may say if you like that any such theory, or a completely unified theory if one every came about, would "explain" the universe. But it certainly would not, not in the sense of explaining why the universe is here; what accounts for its existence. All it would do would be to supply a general account, however simple or elaborate, for how things are related within the set of all things known to exist.

Suppose that you had in hand your unified theory and it clearly implied that Factor X, which were somehow distinct from the physical universe, were nevertheless its cause. Well in that case, the set of all things would consist of the physical universe and Factor X, and for the ensemble, there would be no possible explanation. We could say that the physical universe was here because of Factor X, but we could not say why Factor X was here.

It's nothing mysterious, it's only that explanation is inherently a description of relations between things. If you have a counter-example, please bring it.

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I appreciate your position, but see it as wild speculation. The main assumption here is that an explanation of the relationships between all things (i.e. a unified theory) would have an intangible x factor outside of it ... it would be equally valid to suppose that such a theory would explain why the universe existed through the relationships between it's constituent parts.

So in the case of the ensemble of the universe and factor x, we could possibly define the governing dynamics which regulate both of these things and hence explaing both their presence and origin!

Sam