In Explaining Explanation, David-Hillel Ruben provides a nontechnical discussion of some of the main historical attempts to explain the concept of explanation, examining the works of Plato, Aristotle, John Stuart Mill, and Carl Hempel. Building on and developing the insights of these historical figures, he concludes with his own original and challenging view of explanation. He relates the concept of explanation to both epistemological and metaphysical issues. Not content to confine the concept to the realm of the philosophy of science, Ruben examines it within a far more broadly conceived theory of knowledge. This second edition of the influential and highly acclaimed book on the philosophy of explanation has been revised and expanded, and the author has made substantial changes in light of the extensive reviews the first edition received. Book jacket.