If Post 1 established that explanation is not inventory, representation, or prediction, we now turn to what explanation actually is: a disciplined orientation within a space of possibilities. Post-totality thinking requires that we treat understanding as a dynamic capacity to navigate distinctions, rather than as possession of a final map.
1. Understanding Moves, It Does Not Possess
Traditional epistemology imagines understanding as a static “possession” — as though knowing all facts about a system equals comprehension. Post-totality ontology rejects this. To understand is not to hold a complete picture, but to be attuned to the relations and constraints that shape phenomena.
Explanation, therefore, is a tool for navigation:
-
It highlights distinctions that are relevant under particular constraints.
-
It identifies the pathways between phenomena.
-
It orients attention toward meaningful instantiations rather than attempting exhaustive description.
2. The Relational Core of Orientation
Understanding operates relationally. A phenomenon is never intelligible in isolation; it appears in relation to other phenomena, to cuts, and to symbolic structures that stabilise meaning.
-
Explanations reveal patterns of interaction, not totality.
-
Understanding emerges from seeing how phenomena behave relative to constraints, not from assembling a “complete” catalog.
-
Orientation is perspectival: different cuts yield different navigable spaces, each legitimate but non-total.
3. Constraint as Guiding Principle
Constraints are not limitations; they are relational guides. They tell us:
-
which distinctions matter,
-
which phenomena are coherent together,
-
and how symbolic and semantic systems can make understanding transportable.
By following constraints rather than attempting total coverage, explanation becomes a generative practice: it allows movement through possibilities without claiming absolute knowledge.
4. Phenomena as Waypoints
Phenomena are the anchors of orientation. Explanation identifies and situates phenomena within networks of relevance:
-
Which phenomena are salient under a given cut?
-
How do these phenomena constrain possibilities elsewhere?
-
What symbolic structures convey their relationships effectively?
Orientation within possibilities is not about predicting every eventuality — it is about knowing where to focus, what distinctions to attend to, and which patterns enable understanding to propagate.
5. From Orientation to Understanding
When explanation functions as orientation:
-
Understanding becomes active rather than passive.
-
Knowledge is structured and navigable, not total.
-
Phenomena, systems, and symbolic structures interact to produce intelligibility, without invoking finality.
In short, orientation is the practical expression of understanding in a post-totality framework.
Conclusion:
Explanations are not inventories of the universe; they are paths through the landscape of possibility. They guide thought, constrain interpretations, and stabilise meaning — all without promising completion.
Next, we will drill deeper into the mechanics of explanation itself in Post 3 — Constraint-Sensitive Explanation, showing how explanations operate within relational and perspectival bounds, and how constraints shape the intelligibility of phenomena.
No comments:
Post a Comment