Lineages and Mental Powers

Abstract: Standard accounts of mental powers are forward-looking: They individuate powers through their potential manifestations. In this article, the authors argue that mental powers are backward-looking as well. The backward-looking dimension of a power—what they call its lineage—opens up and constrains possibilities for potential manifestations, and in doing so, individuates mental powers just as readily as standard, forward-looking accounts. The idea of lineages thus incorporates standard accounts of mental powers, even while broadening the theoretical, rhetorical, and practical reach of an empowered account.