Explanatory dispositionalism

Humean Dispositionalism

Humean metaphysics is characterised by a rejection of necessary connections between distinct existences. Dispositionalists claim that there are basic causal powers. The existence of such properties is widely held to be incompatible with the Humean rejection of necessary connections. In this paper I present a novel theory of causal powers that vindicates the dispositionalist claim that causal po...

The metaphysics of laws: dispositionalism vs. primitivism1

The paper compares dispositionalism about laws of nature with primitivism. It argues that while the distinction between these two positions can be drawn in a clear-cut manner in classical mechanics, it is less clear in quantum mechanics, due to quantum non-locality. Nonetheless, the paper points out advantages for dispositionalism in comparison to primitivism also in the area of quantum mechani...

Ellis on the limitations of dispositionalism

Against Dispositionalism: Belief in Cognitive Science

Dispositionalism about belief has had a recent resurgence. In this paper we critically evaluate a popular dispositionalist program pursued by Eric Schwitzgebel. Then we present an alternative: a psychofunctional, representational theory of belief. This theory of belief has two main pillars: that beliefs are relations to structured mental representations, and that the relations are determined by...

Dispositions and Rational Explanation Forthcoming in The Possibility of Philosophical Understanding: Essays for Barry Stroud, Oxford University Press

Some philosophers hold that rational explanations—explanations of peoples’s attitudes and actions that cite their reasons for forming these attitudes or performing these actions—are dispositional. They hold that rational explanations do their explanatory work by representing these attitudes and actions as the product of dispositions or tendencies on the part of the person who has or performs th...