Powers That Be: An Adventure in Metaphysics

This paper is an investigation into the increasingly popular trend amongst philosophers on the metaphysics of powers, exemplified by the statement: ‘To be real is to possess a power to affect (or to be affected by) other things’. First, I briefly trace the history of this idea (from the Eleatic dialectic of ancient times to present day quantum theory) in order to get clear on what kinds of philosophers are (or have been) attracted to this statement and take it as a principle, and why they are (or have been) attracted to it. This leads to an investigation of the principle itself, in the form of an intellectual adventure, as two young students of metaphysics attempt to apply this principle to their everyday experiences. This adventure shows that this principle, as promising as it might seem for giving natural science a firm metaphysical basis, turns out to be no more sensible or clarifying than the metaphysic its proponents are eager to replace. Finally, following the lead of O.K. Bouwsma, I will suggest an alternative way of understanding the meaning and value of metaphysics.