Single Idea 19017

[catalogued under 8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 6. Dispositions / d. Dispositions as occurrent]

Full Idea

Nomological dispositions such as electric charge seem different from ordinary dispositions. A particle's being electrically charged is not just a possibility of exerting a certain force. Rather, the particle has to exert a force in certain circumstances.

Gist of Idea

Nomological dispositions (unlike ordinary ones) have to be continually realised

Source

Barbara Vetter (Potentiality [2015], 2.7)

Book Reference

Vetter,Barbara: 'Potentiality: from Dispositions to Modality' [OUP 2015], p.61


A Reaction

I can only pull when there is something to pull, but a magnet seems to have a 'field' of attraction which is pullish in character. Does it detect something to pull (like a monad)? Can there be a force which has no object?

Related Idea

Idea 13174 A piece of flint contains something resembling perceptions and appetites [Leibniz]