Title: Bisexuality without Biconditionality: In Support on Non-Conditional Dispositionalism about Sexual Orientation
Abstract: The last 10 years have seen an increasing interest in the metaphysics of sexual orientation. This literature attempts to find out what it means to be homosexual or heterosexual. This breaks down into three main disputes: Should orientation be defined reflexively; Is orientation aimed at sex, gender, or both; And what is the analytic structure of orientation? Despite focusing on the third question, this presentation provides insight into all three.
Until recently, the prevailing account of orientation’s analytic structure has claimed it is a biconditional disposition. This dispositional consensus, however, has been challenged by Whitlow and Laskowski, who argue that dispositions are structurally unfit to serve as an account of orientation and instead support “phenomenal categoralism”.
In this paper, I defend the dispositionalist account of sexual orientation in two ways. First, I offer three novel objections to the rival categoralist account. Second, I argue that by moving away from the biconditional account of dispositions to Vetter’s non-conditional account we can construct a dispositional account of orientation that avoids the problems levied by Whitlow and Laskowski. This sets up my Phenomenal Nonconditional Dispositionalist (PND) account of orientation.
Ockham Society Convenors: Rian Coady, Lucas Janz and Isabel Weir | Ockham Society Webpage
