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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 Ref
-: '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.
| 14346 | Dispositional essentialism says fundamental laws of nature are strict, not ceteris paribus [Corry] |
| 14348 | An 'antidote' allows a manifestation to begin, but then blocks it [Corry] |
| 14347 | A 'finkish' disposition is one that is lost immediately after the appropriate stimulus [Corry] |
| 14350 | If a disposition is never instantiated, it shouldn't be part of our theory of nature [Corry] |
| 14351 | Maybe an experiment unmasks an essential disposition, and reveals its regularities [Corry] |