Everyday Metaphysical Explanation

The philosophical notion of metaphysical explanation has been subject to an increased level of attention in the previous decade. Despite tantalising claims about how metaphysical explanations are part of everyday life, the everyday notion has not been explored. In Everyday Metaphysical Explanation, Kristie Miller and James Norton take up the task of developing an account of the everyday notion of metaphysical explanation: the notion that we all use in ordinary contexts when we ask for, and receive, explanations of a certain sort. Building on the striking results of their empirical investigation of folk judgements regarding what metaphysically explains what, together with evidence of our ordinary practices surrounding the notion, they build three unique accounts of the phenomenon.

Kristie Miller, Professor of Philosophy, and joint director of the Centre for Time, University of Sydney,James Norton, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Iceland

Kristie Miller is currently an Australian Research Council Future Fellow at the University of Sydney. She has previously been a DECRA ARC Fellow, as well as an ARC Senior Research Fellow. She is joint director of the interdisciplinary Centre for Time. She has published widely in metaphysics,
particularly on the nature of time, temporal phenomenology, personal identity, and persistence.

James Norton is a postdoctoral fellow with the project Understanding Progress, in Science and Beyond at the University of Iceland, and a research affiliate of the Centre for Time at the University of Sydney. His research is primarily on the philosophy of time, experimental philosophy, metaphysical
explanation, and metaphilosophical issues concerning philosophical progress.