Powers, Manifestations, and their Essences

Abstract

In this thesis I defend a metaphysics that ascribes fundamental dispositional properties (powers) to objects. The main claim of the thesis is that fundamental powers of fundamental objects are what constitutes causation. Causes are powers, and effects are manifestations of these powers. Powers manifest necessarily when their manifestation conditions hold. Counterexamples against the necessitation of effects by powers (masks, finks, mimickers) are dealt with by distinguishing manifestations from occurrent effects. In my thesis the manifestation of a power is the force that is exerted on an object, and not the result of this force. Since forces can't be blocked, the counterexamples do not hold. As an example of a fundamental power of a fundamental object I take the mass of a particle. The mass of a particle is the power to attract massive objects in a certain way. In developing this example I exactly specify the individuation conditions of powers and manifestations. In doing so I commit to properties being essentially powerful, powers having their manifestation types essentially, and powers having their manifestation condition types essentially. The result of this investigation is a metaphysics that can account for causation very well and does so in an anti-humean framework of powers, manifestations and their essences. Supervisors: prof. Albert Visser (Utrecht University) and prof. John Heil (Washington University in St. Louis)