Full Idea
How are we to conceive of a field of potentials when the very point of the notion is that it serves to describe what would happen at various places, and is not a description of what did or is happening?
Gist of Idea
What is a field of potentials, if it only consists of possible events?
Source
Harré,R./Madden,E.H. (Causal Powers [1975], 9.III)
Book Reference
Harré,R/Madden,E.H.: 'Causal Powers: A Theory of Natural Necessity' [Blackwell 1975], p.175
A Reaction
I suppose the answer is induction. If there were no events, the field would be beyond us. We infer the field from observed events, and infer possible events from the patterns of behaviour in the field, and its nature.