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Single Idea 14292
[filed under theme 8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 6. Dispositions / a. Dispositions
]
Full Idea
Dispositions of a thing are as important to us as overt behaviour, but they strike us by comparison as rather ethereal. So we are moved to enquire whether we can bring them down to earth, and explain disposition terms without reference to occult powers.
Gist of Idea
Dispositions seem more ethereal than behaviour; a non-occult account of them would be nice
Source
Nelson Goodman (Fact, Fiction and Forecast (4th ed) [1954], II.3)
Book Ref
Goodman,Nelson: 'Fact, Fiction and Forecast (4th ed)' [Harvard 1983], p.40
A Reaction
Mumford quotes this at the start of his book on dispositions, as his agenda. I suspect that the 'occult' aspect crept in because dispositions were based on powers, and the dominant view was that these were the immediate work of God.
The
25 ideas
with the same theme
[idea of a disposition towards certain behaviour]:
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16735
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In the 17th century, 'disposition' usually just means the spatial arrangement of parts
[Boyle, by Pasnau]
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14292
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Dispositions seem more ethereal than behaviour; a non-occult account of them would be nice
[Goodman]
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16948
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Once we know the mechanism of a disposition, we can eliminate 'similarity'
[Quine]
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15723
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Either dispositions rest on structures, or we keep saying 'all things being equal'
[Quine]
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15469
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Dispositions in action can be destroyed, be recovered, or remain unchanged
[Martin,CB]
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14330
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To be realists about dispositions, we can only discuss them through their categorical basis
[Armstrong]
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5458
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Nearly all fundamental properties of physics are dispositional
[Ellis]
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13585
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The most fundamental properties of nature (mass, charge, spin ...) all seem to be dispositions
[Ellis]
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16452
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Dispositions have modal properties, of which properties things would have counterfactually
[Stalnaker]
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14308
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We can bring dispositions into existence, as in creating an identifier
[Dennett, by Mumford]
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11943
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Dispositions can be causes, so they must be part of the actual world
[Molnar]
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7025
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Are a property's dispositions built in, or contingently added?
[Heil]
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14293
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Dispositions are ascribed to at least objects, substances and persons
[Mumford]
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14298
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Dispositions can be contrasted either with occurrences, or with categorical properties
[Mumford]
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14326
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Unlike categorical bases, dispositions necessarily occupy a particular causal role
[Mumford]
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14583
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Dispositionality is a natural selection function, picking outcomes from the range of possibilities
[Mumford/Anjum]
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16788
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Instead of adding Aristotelian forms to physical stuff, one could add dispositions
[Pasnau]
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19021
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I have an 'iterated ability' to learn the violin - that is, the ability to acquire that ability
[Vetter]
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23698
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Dispositions have directed behaviour which occurs if triggered
[Friend/Kimpton-Nye]
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23699
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'Masked' dispositions fail to react because something intervenes
[Friend/Kimpton-Nye]
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23700
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A disposition is 'altered' when the stimulus reverses the disposition
[Friend/Kimpton-Nye]
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23701
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A disposition is 'mimicked' if a different cause produces that effect from that stimulus
[Friend/Kimpton-Nye]
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23702
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A 'trick' can look like a stimulus for a disposition which will happen without it
[Friend/Kimpton-Nye]
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23703
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Some dispositions manifest themselves without a stimulus
[Friend/Kimpton-Nye]
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23704
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We could analyse dispositions as 'possibilities', with no mention of a stimulus
[Friend/Kimpton-Nye]
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