Narrative possibility and narrative explanation.

Area of Science:

• Philosophy of Science
• Narrative Theory
• Epistemology

Background:

• Narratives encompass both actual events and potential alternatives.
• Unrealized possibilities are crucial for understanding narrative explanations.
• Existing explanations often overlook the role of narrative possibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define and analyze narrative explanation as a distinct form of counterfactual reasoning.
• To establish the criteria for valid counterfactual conditions within narrative explanations.
• To explore the application of narrative explanation across literary, historical, and scientific domains.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of narrative explanation.
• Examination of counterfactual reasoning in different contexts.
• Comparative study of literary, historical, and scientific narratives.

Main Results:

• Narrative explanation is characterized as a difference-making, counterfactual approach.
• A key qualification is that counterfactual conditions must be historically or narratively possible.
• This framework is applicable to diverse forms of narrative.

Conclusions:

• Narrative explanations productively utilize unrealized possibilities.
• The historical or narrative possibility of counterfactuals is a demanding but essential criterion.
• The study provides a framework for understanding explanation in various narrative forms.