Explaining and Understanding Extremism

Abstract Phrases in terms of explaining and understanding extremism and terrorism are ubiquitous in the literature. Yet, it is widely acknowledged in philosophy of science and epistemology that explaining and understanding are not always the same thing. This raises the issue of how we should construe the projects of explaining and understanding radicalization. Moreover, to what extent does explaining radicalization require that one understand it, and in which of the many senses of understanding? And how much explanation and which kinds and levels of explanation are required for understanding radicalization? This chapter combines insights from philosophy of science and (social) epistemology on the nature and varieties of scientific explanation and understanding with the empirical literature on third- and first-person explanations and accounts of radicalization. It argues that while many varieties of understanding radicalization can also be understood in terms of explanations, there are some cases, particularly those involving first-person understanding, that cannot.