Should we allow for the possibility of necessarily unexercised abilities? A new route to rejecting the poss-ability principle

Björn Lundgren

doi:10.1080/0020174X.2023.2250390

Should we allow for the possibility of necessarily unexercised abilities? A new route to rejecting the poss-ability principle

Björn Lundgren

OFR - Ethics Institute

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Most analyses of can and abilities accept what is known as the poss-ability principle (i.e. that an agent S is able to Φ only if it is possible for S to Φ). In this paper, I devise a new route to rejecting the poss-ability principle. I argue that the poss-ability principle is incompatible with some kind of agent, such as God; that the poss-ability principle has normatively unacceptable consequences (granted the existence of a certain kind of evil agent); and that analyses of abilities or ‘can’ based on the poss-ability principle are conceptually flawed.

Original language	English
Journal	Inquiry
Early online date	24 Aug 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2023.2250390
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 24 Aug 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

Ability
can
impossibility
poss-ability principle

Access to Document

10.1080/0020174X.2023.2250390Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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ER -

Should we allow for the possibility of necessarily unexercised abilities? A new route to rejecting the poss-ability principle

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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