ABSTRACT
The Hempelian Covering-Law model of explanation was the earliest modern model and it has had a great influence on the field ever since its presentation. The form of an explanation is clearly one of its internal features. No matter how much the external world changes, the explanation will still have the same form. Very few people give any explanations in full and explicit covering-law form. However, Hempel argues that this does not matter. He is interested in the underlying logical form. Thus, it is necessary to argue that there are some potential arguments. Functional explanations, of the form 'X exists in order to Y', or 'A does B in order to C', seem, at least on the surface, to be highly distinct from causal explanations. A structural, or identity, explanation is one in which the explanans and the explanandum are the same thing.
