ABSTRACT
Science has not only produced a vast amount of knowledge about a wide range of phenomena, from the nature of elementary particles to the structure of the universe, but it has also enhanced understanding of these phenomena. Indeed, understanding can be regarded as one of the central aims of science. Moreover, scientific understanding is not only important for its own sake, but also highly relevant to society. In the debate on the nature of scientific understanding, there appear to be several types of approaches. Alternative accounts of understanding are typically more demanding in what they require from the explanation and less demanding with respect to the abilities they require from the scientist. Many of them identify understanding with ‘grasping’ a correct and thus an at least approximately true explanation. This chapter reviews the main trends in the philosophical debate about scientific understanding, a debate that started relatively and will surely continue and expand in the years to come.
