Models and explanation

How can a description of a thing act as an explanation? This is a question that hangs over much of the philosophical enquiry into the role of models in science. In this paper, I attempt to address this question by examining a particular use of models in cognitive science, dynamic systems theory, and in particular the Haken-Kelso-Bunz mathematical model of phase transitions in finger movements. I defend a view on which this model provides resources for what I call systems explanation, where a systems explanation is a scientific explanation that proceeds by giving a profile of an interactive system that gives rise to the target phenomenon