Contra Epstein, Good Explanations Predict

Epstein has argued that an explanation's capacity to make predictions should play a minor role in its evaluation . This view contradicts centuries of scientific practice and, at least, decades of philosophy of science. We argue that the view is not only unfounded but seems to arise from a mistaken fear that ABM models are in need of defense against the criticism that they don't necessarily forecast events in the natural or social world.