Premium
A Simulacrum Account of Dispositional Properties[Note *. *Acknowledgements: I would like to express my gratitude to ...]
Author(s) -
Nathan Marco J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
noûs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.574
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1468-0068
pISSN - 0029-4624
DOI - 10.1111/nous.12031
Subject(s) - simulacrum , simple (philosophy) , connection (principal bundle) , epistemology , psychology , mathematics , philosophy , geometry
This essay presents a model‐theoretic account of dispositional properties, according to which dispositions are not ordinary properties of real entities; dispositions capture the behavior of abstract, idealized models. This account has several payoffs. First, it saves the simple conditional analysis of dispositions. Second, it preserves the general connection between dispositions and regularities, despite the fact that some dispositions are not grounded in actual regularities. Finally, it brings together the analysis and the explanation of dispositions under a unified framework.