A Case for Extrinsic Dispositions

A Case for Extrinsic Dispositions

Do Extrinsic Dispositions Need Extrinsic Causal Bases?

In this paper, I distinguish two often-conflated theses—the thesis that all dispositions are intrinsic properties and the thesis that the causal bases of all dispositions are intrinsic properties—and argue that the falsity of the former does not entail the falsity of the latter. In particular, I argue that extrinsic dispositions are a counterexample to first thesis but not necessarily to the se...

Dispositions

Appeals to dispositionality in explanations of phenomena in metaphysics and the philosophy of mind, require that we first agree on what we are talking about. I sketch an account of what dispositionality might be. That account will place me at odds with most current conceptions of dispositionality. My aim is not to establish a weighty ontological thesis, however, but to move the discussion ahead...

Designing for dispositions

The purpose of this paper is to share the results of the first round of a design experiment, the purpose of which was to intentionally provoke in students particular ways of engaging with statistics. Specifically, in this study, we sought to design a curriculum which would support students’ procedural, conceptual, and critical engagement with content, in order to develop dispositions towards en...

A Computational Theory Of Dispositions

1. I n t r o d u c t i o n Informally, a disposition is a proposition which is preponderantly, but not necessarily always, true. Simple examples of dispositions are: Smoking is addictive, exercise is good for your health, long sentences are more difficult to parse than short sentences, overeating causes obesity, Trudi is always right, etc. Dispositions play a central role in human reasoning, si...