Single Idea 14351

[catalogued under 14. Science / A. Basis of Science / 3. Experiment]

Full Idea

The dispositional essentialist can argue that what happens in laboratory conditions is that, by controlling external influences, we effectively 'unmask' the relevant dispositions, and thus observe the regularities to which those dispositions give rise.

Gist of Idea

Maybe an experiment unmasks an essential disposition, and reveals its regularities

Source

Richard Corry (Dispositional Essentialism Grounds Laws of Nature? [2010], 5)

Book Reference

-: 'Australasian Journal of Philosophy' [-], p.8


A Reaction

That seems to me to be exactly right, though Corry dislikes it, and even suggests that dispositional essentialist might not like it.