Dispositionalism and the Metaphysics of Science

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

List of contents

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.

About the author

Travis Dumsday is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Concordia University, Montréal. He has published numerous articles and book chapters on topics in philosophy of science, metaphysics, and philosophy of religion.

Summary

Dispositionalism - the view that causal powers are among the irreducible properties of nature - is one of the main competing theories within the metaphysics of laws, yet its connection to related debates remains underexplored. This book establishes new links between dispositionalism and core topics within metaphysics and the philosophy of science.

Product details

• Authors: Travis Dumsday, Travis (Concordia University Dumsday, Dumsday Travis
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.01.2019
• EAN: 9781108480130
• ISBN: 978-1-108-48013-0
• No. of pages: 228
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; PHILOSOPHY / General, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology, Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology