On linking dispositions and conditionals

Mind 117 (465):59-84 (2008)
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Abstract

Analyses of dispositional ascriptions in terms of conditional statements famously confront the problems of finks and masks. We argue that conditional analyses of dispositions, even those tailored to avoid finks and masks, face five further problems. These are the problems of: (i) Achilles' heels, (ii) accidental closeness, (iii) comparatives, (iv) explaining context sensitivity, and (v) absent stimulus conditions. We conclude by offering a proposal that avoids all seven of these problems.

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Author Profiles

David Manley
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Ryan Wasserman
Western Washington University

Citations of this work

Potentiality: From Dispositions to Modality.Barbara Vetter - 2013 - Oxford, England and New York, NY, USA: Oxford University Press.
Moral Character: An Empirical Theory.Christian B. Miller - 2013 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.

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References found in this work

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Laws and Symmetry.Bas C. Van Fraassen - 1989 - Revue Philosophique de la France Et de l'Etranger 182 (3):327-329.
Knowledge and Lotteries.John Hawthorne - 2005 - Philosophical Quarterly 55 (219):353-356.

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