Powers and Capacities in Philosophy : The New Aristotelianism

__Powers and Capacities in Philosophy__ is designed to stake out an emerging, discipline-spanning neo-Aristotelian framework grounded in realism about causal powers. The volume brings together for the first time original essays by leading philosophers working on powers in relation to metaphysics, philosophy of natural and social science, philosophy of mind and action, epistemology, ethics and social and political philosophy. In each area, the concern is to show how a commitment to real causal powers affects discussion at the level in question. In metaphysics, for example, realism about powers is now recognized as providing an alternative to orthodox accounts of causation, modality, properties and laws. Dispositional realist philosophers of science, meanwhile, argue that a powers ontology allows for a proper account of the nature of scientific explanation. In the philosophy of mind there is the suggestion that agency is best understood in terms of the distinctive powers of human beings. Those who take virtue theoretic approaches in epistemology and ethics have long been interested in the powers that allow for knowledge and/or moral excellence. In social and political philosophy, finally, powers theorists are interested in the powers of sociological phenomena such as collectivities, institutions, roles and/or social relations, but also in the conditions of possibility for the cultivation of the powers of individuals. The book will be of interest to philosophers working in any of these areas, as well as to historians of philosophy, political theorists and critical realists. Powers Were Central To The Aristotelian Worldview That Held Sway For Centuries But Were Largely Left Behind During The Scientific Revolution When Laws Replaced Powers As The Primary Vehicles Of Explanation. We Are Now Seeing A Welcome Rebirth Of Interest In The Metaphysics And Explanatory Role Of Powers. This Title Brings Together A Collection Of Papers By Some Of The Foremost Philosophers Writing On The Topic Of Powers Today. Introduction / Ruth Groff -- 1. The Power Of Power / Stephen Mumford -- 2. Limitations Of Power / Alexander Bird -- 3. Emergence, Causal Powers, And Aristotelianism In Metaphysics / Eleonore Stump -- 4. The Ineliminability Of Dispositions In Hume's Rejection Of Causal Powers / Lynn S. Joy --5. Aristotelian Powers : Without Them, What Would Modern Science Do? / Nancy Cartwright And John Pemberton -- 6. Dispositions For Scientific Realism / Anjan Chakravartty -- 7. Powerful Particulars Revisited / Rom Harré -- 8. Powers, Structures, And Minds / William Jaworski -- 9. The Will As A Rational Free Power / E. J. Lowe -- 10. The Power Of Agency / Brian Ellis -- 11. Whose Power? Which Agency? -- 12. Disposition And Ethics / Rani Lill Anjum ... [et Al.] -- 13. The Power, And Limitations, Of Virtue Epistemology / Jesper Kallestrup And Duncan Pritchard -- 14. Powers And Reasons / Linda Zagzebski -- 15. Emergence And Social Causation / Tony Lawson -- 16. Gender Essentialism : Aristotle Or Locke? -- / Charlotte Witt -- 17. Rules, Goods, And Powers / Kelvin Knight Edited By Ruth Groff And John Greco. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of Contributors 11 Acknowledgments 15 Introduction 16 Part I Metaphysics 22 1 The Power of Power 24 2 Limitations of Power 40 3 Emergence, Causal Powers, and Aristotelianism in Metaphysics 63 4 The Ineliminability of Dispositions in Hume's Rejection of Causal Powers 84 Part II Philosophy of Science 106 5 Aristotelian Powers: Without Them, What Would Modern Science Do? 108 6 Dispositions for Scientific Realism 128 7 Powerful Particulars Revisited 143 Part III Mind and Agency 158 8 Powers, Structures, and Minds 160 9 The Will as a Rational Free Power 187 10 The Power of Agency 201 11 Whose Powers? Which Agency? 222 Part IV Ethics and Epistemology 244 12 Dispositions and Ethics 246 13 The Power, and Limitations, of Virtue Epistemology 263 14 Powers and Reasons 285 Part V Social and Political Philosophy 298 15 Emergence and Social Causation 300 16 Gender Essentialism: Aristotle or Locke? 323 17 Rules, Goods, and Powers 334 Index 350 Published in 2012, Powers and Capacities in Philosophy is a valuable contribution to the field of Philosophy.