Full Idea
The subjunctive conditional is seen at its most respectable in the disposition terms. ...The reason is that they are conceived as built-in, enduring structural traits.
Gist of Idea
Counterfactuals are plausible when dispositions are involved, as they imply structures
Source
Willard Quine (Word and Object [1960], §46)
Book Reference
Quine,Willard: 'Word and Object' [MIT 1969], p.222
A Reaction
Surprisingly, this is very sympathetic to a metaphysical view that seems a long way from Quine, since dispositions seem to invite commitment to modal features of reality. But the structural traits are not, of course, modal, in any way!