Dispositional essentialism

Abstract

The subordinate status often accorded to dispositions is a consequence, we think, of an inadequate ontology based on a Humean metaphysic, a flawed semantics for dispositional terms, and a regularity theory of laws. Given an ontology which includes some fundamental causal powers, a realistic semantics for some dispositional terms, and a better theory of laws, dispositions can assume their rightful place as respectable, and in some cases fundamental, properties. There are essential links, we argue, between real dispositions, the natural kinds of processes which display them, and the laws of nature which describe these kinds of processes.