Understanding and Explanation: An Epistemic-Logical Perspective

Studies in Logic, Vol. 17, No. 3 (2024): 24–50                   PII: 1674­3202(2024)­03­0024­27

Yu Wei

Abstract. Epistemic logicians barely pay any attention to the notion of understanding, which stands in sharp contrast to the current situation in philosophy of science and epistemology. This paper proposes an epistemic-logical­-style framework for understanding. Since explanations aid understanding, our models incorporate varying degrees of explanations, among which a partial order is established. Inspired by philosophical discussions, we syntactically include a spectrum of understanding modalities, ranging from minimal to everyday, demanding, and ideal understanding. A sound and complete axiomatization is provided, followed by discussions on its application to multi­-agent scenarios, such as making comparative statements of understanding among different agents and exploring meta­-understanding between them.