GRADES OF EXPLANATION IN COGNITIVE SCIENCE

I sketch an explanatory framework that fits a variety of contemporary research programs in cognitive science. I then investigate the scope a nd the implications of this framework. The framework emphasizes (a) th e explanatory role played by the semantic content of cognitive represe ntations, and (b) the important ''mechanistic'', non-intentional dimen sion of cognitive explanations. I show how both of these features are present simultaneously in certain varieties of cognitive explanation. I also consider the explanatory role played by grounded representation al content, that is, content evaluated by appeal to its truth, falsity , accuracy, inaccuracy and other relational properties.