ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that there is a close connection between the conceptions of scientific explanation and approaches to laws of nature, as well as how philosophers' understanding of laws of nature greatly influences their conceptions of scientific explanation. Carl G. Hempel proposes three models of scientific explanation, namely, the deductive-nomological model, the inductive-statistical model, and the deductive-nomological model. In the epistemic conception of scientific explanation, P. Kitcher's unificationist approach is worth mentioning. This approach was originally raised by Michael Friedman in 1974 and was then developed by P. Kitcher in 1989. The ontic conception of explanation puts emphasis on the role of laws in scientific explanation. W. Salmon is famous for his comprehensive review and critical comments of scientific explanation. Salmon emphasizes the relation between explanation and causation: scientific explanations only show how events fit into the causal structure of the world. The unificationist model of explanation maximally fits with the regularity approach to laws of nature.
