The Basic Structure of Scientific Explanation in Basrian Mu'tazila

Scientific explanations and theories aim to present a kind of picture of objects, events and phenomena. It is clear that the activity of painting anything involves a painter with the required qualities (ability and perception), painting tools (pencils, brushes, etc.), a ground (paper, canvas, etc.), the element to be painted and perspective. From this point of view, in the process of the formation of scientific knowledge, the intellectual function of human beings constitutes the ability and possibility to produce this knowledge, and the senses constitute the means of observation. On the other hand, just as something that is subject to description must only be depicted on a ground with certain limits and measurements, the theoretical acquisition of data obtained through sensory perception and observation also requires a ground formed by certain categories and required knowledge. These categories and knowledge, which enable human beings to construct their observations of the external world in a coherent, meaningful and sustainable unity, also determine the limits of their perception. When the ability to draw, the means of observation and the ground on which the drawing is to be made are ready, the stage of drawing the drawing with a suitable pencil begins. Similarly, scientific explanations are made in which the observation data and results obtained by using sensory perception tools on the ground formed by basic categories and primordial knowledge are evaluated in a certain sequence. But just as any drawing necessarily requires perspective, any scientific explanation cannot be considered independent of the pattern that determines the basic structure of the reasoning process. Thus, this picture provides us with a framework that extends from the ground that makes scientific explanation possible to the means of acquiring scientific knowledge and the conceptual instruments and schemes used in scientific explanation. Taking these components into account, this study aims to reveal the basic structure of scientific explanation based on the highly representative Mu`tazilite thinkers of the Basrian school.