Categorie e disposizioni. Spunti ermeneutici per un’ontologia del qualitativo

Within the phenomenological tradition there is a clear tension between an object-oriented approach and a dispositional approach. The former considers the how as subordinate and dependent with respect to the what; for the latter, vice versa, there is a clear priority of the how with respect to the what. This essay aims to investigate both epistemological and ontological reasons for this tension, focusing on the distinction between determination and disposition and, more generally, between categories and powers. The goal is to shed new light on the distinction between manifest content and phenomenal content in order to develop an alternative conception of the qualitative dimension of experience.