Definition of "explanans" [explanans]

• A collection of propositions that, taken together, explain another proposition (the explanandum). (noun)

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• "In naturalistic explanations the explanans is an antecedent condition, an event which precedes in time the event whose cause it is said to be; in mentalistic explanation the explanans is the logical ground of an action, the motive or thought that renders it intelligible."
• "If 'laws' is just shorthand way to refer to the observed regularities, then one is merely identifying the explanandum, not providing an explanans at all."
• "So the explanans may be correct, but it seems to miss its target, the explanandum: it turns out to be an explanation of why feeling pain is not genuinely perceptual."