Dispositionalism and the Metaphysics of Science

Establishes new connections between dispositionalism and a variety of debates in contemporary analytic metaphysics and philosophy of science.

Travis Dumsday (Author)

9781108480130, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 24 January 2019

228 pages
23.5 x 15.5 x 1.6 cm, 0.46 kg

'… a significant contribution to the debate regarding the prospects of dispositionalism.' Vassilis Livanios, Metascience

Dispositionalism is the view that causal powers are among the irreducible properties of nature. It has long been among the core competing positions in the metaphysics of laws, but its potential implications for other key debates within metaphysics and the philosophy of science have remained under-explored. Travis Dumsday fills this major gap in the literature by establishing new connections between dispositionalism and such topics as substance ontology, ontic structural realism, material composition, emergentism, natural-kind essentialism, perdurantism, time travel, and spacetime substantivalism. He also puts forward a novel view concerning the precise relationship between causal powers and the fundamental laws of nature. His rich and accessible study will appeal to readers interested in contemporary analytic metaphysics and philosophy of science.

Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Dispositionalism and the laws of nature
3. Dispositionalism and ontic structural realism
4. Dispositionalism and material composition
5. Dispositionalism and substance ontology
6. Dispositionalism and natural-kind essentialism
7. Dispositionalism and spacetime
8. Dispositionalism and essentially active objects
9. Dispositionalism and emergentism
10. Conclusion
Works cited
Index.

Subject Areas: Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology [HPJ], Philosophy [HP], Humanities [H]