Human beings strive for understanding of what is going on in the world. They want to
understand why the planets take their specific orbits, how life came about, why some actions …

Understanding black box models has become paramount as systems based on opaque
Artificial Intelligence (AI) continue to flourish in diverse real-world applications. In response …

In this paper I argue that the search for explainable models and interpretable decisions in AI
must be reformulated in terms of the broader project of offering a pragmatic and naturalistic …

From antiquity to the end of the twentieth century, philosophical discussions of
understanding remained undeveloped, guided by a'received view'that takes understanding …

What is scientific progress? On Alexander Bird's epistemic account of scientific progress, an
episode in science is progressive precisely when there is more scientific knowledge at the …

The philosophical interest in the nature, value, and varieties of human understanding has
swelled in recent years. This article will provide an overview of new research in the …

Science is replete with falsehoods that epistemically facilitate understanding by virtue of
being the very falsehoods they are. In view of this puzzling fact, some have relaxed the truth …

Many AI systems that make important decisions are black boxes: how they function is
opaque even to their developers. This is due to their high complexity and to the fact that they …

An examination of how scientists deliberately and justifiably use pervasive distortions of
relevant features to explain and understand natural phenomena. A fundamental rule of logic …

Scientists often use aesthetic values in the evaluation and choice of theories. Aesthetic
values are not only regarded as leading to practically more useful theories but are often …