Explanatory Organisation

Definition

Explanatory organisation is the structured relationship through which the components of an explanatory architecture are integrated into a coherent explanatory system.

In Brief

Explanatory organisation describes how an explanatory architecture functions as a coherent explanatory system.

Explanatory organisation concerns how the components of an explanatory architecture function together as a coherent explanatory system.

It is not simply the presence of explanatory concepts that distinguishes one research programme from another, but the organised relationships through which those concepts contribute to biological explanation.

Comparative explanatory methodology therefore examines explanatory organisation rather than isolated concepts. Understanding these relationships allows organisational research programmes to be compared without reducing them to a common theoretical vocabulary.