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Full Idea
Dispositionality could be what gives us the idea of there being modality in the first place: that what is might not be, and what is not could be.
Gist of Idea
Dispositions may suggest modality to us - as what might not have been, and what could have been
Source
S.Mumford/R.Lill Anjum (Getting Causes from Powers [2011], 8.5)
Book Ref
Anjum,R.J./Mumford,S.: 'Getting Causes from Powers' [OUP 2011], p.183
A Reaction
Compare Williamson's suggestion that counterfactual thinking is the source of such things, which is a similar thought. I take it to be exactly correct.
Related Ideas
Idea 14579 Dispositionality is the core modality, with possibility and necessity as its extreme cases [Mumford/Anjum]
Idea 14531 Rather than define counterfactuals using necessity, maybe necessity is a special case of counterfactuals [Williamson, by Hale/Hoffmann,A]
18797 | Modalities do not augment our concepts; they express their relation to cognition [Kant] |
12205 | There are two families of modal notions, metaphysical and epistemic, of equal strength [Edgington] |
14625 | Necessity is counterfactually implied by its negation; possibility does not counterfactually imply its negation [Williamson] |
10709 | Priority is a modality, arising from collections and members [Potter] |
14528 | Maybe modal thought is unavoidable, as a priori recognition of necessary truth-preservation in reasoning [Hale/Hoffmann,A] |
17535 | Dispositionality has its own distinctive type of modality [Mumford/Anjum] |
14579 | Dispositionality is the core modality, with possibility and necessity as its extreme cases [Mumford/Anjum] |
14580 | Dispositions may suggest modality to us - as what might not have been, and what could have been [Mumford/Anjum] |