Uncovering Causal Powers

Abstract

Science concerns not only discovery about the world but also has an application and allows us to change the world through technology. Technology can be understood in terms of uncovering causal powers and using them. Powers are thus the grounds of real possibility that are to be used in technological development. Not all such powers are naturally occurring, however, and some of them are created by us. Even with naturally occurring powers, it still often requires some technology to unleash it. There is a complex relationship between artefacts and functions. The question of how a thing’s function can be separated from its other, ‘accidental’ properties seems in many cases to rely essentially on our interests.