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14297 | A dispositional property is not a state, but a liability to be in some state, given a condition [Ryle] |
Full Idea: To possess a dispositional property is not to be in a particular state;..it is to be bound or liable to be in a particular state, or undergo a particular change, when a particular condition is realized. | |
From: Gilbert Ryle (The Concept of Mind [1949], II (7)) | |
A reaction: Whether this view is correct is the central question about dispositions. Ryle's view is tied in with Humean regularities and behaviourism about mind. The powers view, which I favour, says a disposition is a drawn bow, an actual state of power. |
14300 | No physical scientist now believes in an occult force-exerting agency [Ryle] |
Full Idea: The old error treating the term 'Force' as denoting an occult force-exerting agency has been given up in the physical sciences. | |
From: Gilbert Ryle (The Concept of Mind [1949], V (1)) | |
A reaction: Since 1949 they seem to have made a revival, once they are divested of their religious connotations. The word 'agency' is the misleading bit. Even Leibniz's monads weren't actual agents - he always said that was 'an analogy'. |