Definitions for abilities
abil·i·ties

WiktionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. abilitiesnoun

   Plural form of ability.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. abilities

   Abilities are powers an agent has to perform various actions. They include common abilities, like walking, and rare abilities, like performing a double backflip. Abilities are intelligent powers: they are guided by the person's intention and executing them successfully results in an action, which is not true for all types of powers. They are closely related to but not identical with various other concepts, such as disposition, know-how, aptitude, talent, potential, and skill. Theories of ability aim to articulate the nature of abilities. Traditionally, the conditional analysis has been the most popular approach. According to it, having an ability means one would perform the action in question if one tried to do so. On this view, Michael Phelps has the ability to swim 200 meters in under 2 minutes because he would do so if he tried to. This approach has been criticized in various ways. Some counterexamples involve cases in which the agent is physically able to do something but unable to try, due to a strong aversion. In order to avoid these and other counterexamples, various alternative approaches have been suggested. Modal theories of ability, for example, focus on what is possible for the agent to do. Other suggestions include defining abilities in terms of dispositions and potentials. An important distinction among abilities is between general abilities and specific abilities. General abilities are abilities possessed by an agent independent of their situation while specific abilities concern what an agent can do in a specific situation. So while an expert piano player always has the general ability to play various piano pieces, they lack the corresponding specific ability in a situation where no piano is present. Another distinction concerns the question of whether successfully performing an action by accident counts as having the corresponding ability. In this sense, an amateur hacker may have the effective ability to hack his boss's email account, because they may be lucky and guess the password correctly, but not the corresponding transparent ability, since they are unable to reliably do so. The concept of abilities and how they are to be understood is relevant for various related fields. Free will, for example, is often understood as the ability to do otherwise. The debate between compatibilism and incompatibilism concerns the question whether this ability can exist in a world governed by deterministic laws of nature. Autonomy is a closely related concept, which can be defined as the ability of individual or collective agents to govern themselves. Whether an agent has the ability to perform a certain action is important for whether they have a moral obligation to perform this action. If they possess it, they may be morally responsible for performing it or for failing to do so. Like in the free will debate, it is also relevant whether they had the ability to do otherwise. A prominent theory of concepts and concept possession understands these terms in relation to abilities. According to it, it is required that the agent possess both the ability to discriminate between positive and negative cases and the ability to draw inferences to related concepts.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Abilities

   of Ability

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. abilities

   Plural form of the word ability.

   We are human beings with a range of abilities relevant to our soul's purpose on this earth.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on April 2, 2020  

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. abilities

   Song lyrics by abilities -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by abilities on the Lyrics.com website.

How to pronounce abilities?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say abilities in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of abilities in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of abilities in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of abilities in a Sentence

1. Simone Pika:

   This is, for me, especially breathtaking because so many people doubt prosocial abilities in other animals, suddenly we have a species where we really see individuals caring for others.

2. Masayoshi Son:

   Yes. He's 10 years younger than me, and he has more abilities than me, the last nine months I've spent with him have made me sure of that, but I'm not going to retire soon.

3. Kang Lee:

   The 30% of the under-3s who can lie have higher executive function abilities.

4. J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets:

   It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

5. Tim Pawlenty:

   Don't underestimate Donald Trump's abilities here. This is somebody, if he gets a little more experienced, a little more measured, could be a lot more serious and a lot more competitive than anyone ever could have imagined, the likely nominees in my view are going to be Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Scott Waker ... and I wouldn't rule out Donald Trump.

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References

1. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Abilities
2. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abilities
3. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abilities