Limitations of Power

An ontology of powers—essentially dispositional natural properties—has recently become popular, and consequently philosophers have sought to apply this ontol- ogy to a number of problems and areas outside fundamental metaphysics, such as those concerning causation, intentionality, and free will. In this paper I warn against over-extending the case for a powers ontology: the powers ontology cannot answer typical questions outside fundamental metaphysics. I suggest that proposals that attempt to do this suffer from a conflation of ‘power’ and ‘disposition’ or from an abuse of metaphor.