On Explanation

How do scientific explanations fundamentally transform when they encounter phenomena that resist existing frameworks? This paper develops a two-tiered account of explanation: persistent meta-constraints (empirical accountability, internal coherence, predictive capacity) that remain stable across all frameworks, and transformable grammatical rules (ontological commitments, causal structure, compositional assumptions) that can be reconstructed under empirical pressure. Using quantum mechanics as a detailed case study, I show how five dimensions of explanation transformed together as one integrated package while meta-constraints persisted. This structure resolves longstanding tensions in philosophy of science; it explains both Kuhn's radical reconceptualization in scientific revolutions and the rational constraint on theory choice he left underspecified, while completing Friedman's project of reconciling constitutive principles with scientific change. The framework extends beyond pure conceptual analysis; explanation requires physical implementation, and metabolic constraints in biological systems (and resource constraints in institutional systems) enforce which grammatical configurations can actually persist. Rather than seeking correspondence to framework-independent reality, this approach understands explanation from within its own constitutive conditions, revealing how systematic resistance at explanatory limits drives grammatical reconstruction and expands our capacity to render phenomena intelligible.