Full Idea
One view is that there must be an intrinsic property or structure in virtue of which a given thing has the behavioural disposition in question.
Gist of Idea
Maybe dispositions can be explained by intrinsic properties or structures
Source
Brian Ellis (Scientific Essentialism [2001], 3.06)
Book Reference
Ellis,Brian: 'Scientific Essentialism' [CUP 2007], p.119
A Reaction
[He cites Prior, Pargetter,Jackson 1982] A key question in the metaphysics of nature - whether dispositions should be taken as primitive, or whether we should try to explain them in other terms. I take powers and dispositions to be prior to properties.