"Philosophical Explanations" received positive reviews from the philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre in "The New York Times Book Review", the philosopher Ian Hacking in "The New Republic", the philosopher David Gordon in "Library Journal", the political scientist Mark Lilla in "The American Scholar", and the philosopher Stephen F. Barker in "Harvard Educational Review".The book was also reviewed by the philosopher Robert Cummings Neville in "Modern Age", the philosopher Robert Fogelin in "The Journal of Philosophy", Russell Hardin in "Ethics", Leslie Stevenson in the "British Journal for the Philosophy of Science", George Weckman in the "Journal of the American Academy of Religion", Anthony Ellis in "Mind", Jeffrey Stout in "The Journal of Religion", and by "The Economist".