- "Intentionality is the power of minds to be about something."
The ability of mental states to be directed at or about something, such as an object, idea, or other mental state.
Phenomenology: The study of conscious experience and perception.
Intentionality as directedness: A concept that refers to the direction or aim of a person's mental state towards an object.
The Problem of Intentionality: The philosophical problem of explaining how mental states are directed towards objects.
Objectivity: The quality of being objective refers to the fact that mental states refer to things that exist independently of the subject.
Representation: The concept of representation in philosophy of mind refers to the idea that mental states can represent objects, ideas or events.
Mental Content: The idea that mental states have content or meaning, which is closely related to the idea of representation.
Qualia: The subjective or personal experience of sensation or perception.
Externalism: The view that the content of our mental states is determined, at least in part, by factors external to the individual.
Internalism: The opposite of externalism, it claims that the content of our mental state is determined entirely by the individual.
Computational Theory of Mind: An approach in philosophy of mind that posits that mental states are best understood as information-processing systems.
The Hard Problem of Consciousness: A philosophical problem that arises from the fact that we cannot fully explain what consciousness is or how it arises.
Intentionality and Free Will: The role that intentionality plays in our ability to make choices and decisions.
Intentionality and language: The role that intentionality plays in our ability to understand and communicate through language.
Intentionality and Perception: The relationship between intentionality and perception, and the role that the former plays in shaping and influencing the latter.
Intentionality and Emotion: The role that intentionality plays in our subjective experience of emotions.
Intentionality and Action: The relationship between intentionality and action, and the role that the former plays in shaping and influencing the latter.
Mental Causation: The idea that mental states can cause physical events, and the various philosophical approaches to this idea.
Eliminative Materialism: A theory that denies the existence of mental states and claims that they will eventually be explained solely by neuroscience.
Functionalism: An approach in philosophy of mind that views mental states as functional states, defined by their causal relationships with other states.
Mind-Body Dualism: The philosophical position that mental and physical states are fundamentally distinct and separate entities.
Object-Directed Intentionality: This is the most basic form of intentionality, which refers to the mind's ability to be directed towards objects in the world.
Mental-State Intentionality: This form of intentionality refers to the mind's ability to have thoughts, beliefs, and desires, which can also be directed towards objects in the world.
Propositional Intentionality: This is a kind of mental-state intentionality that refers to the mind's ability to represent things in a certain way, and to have beliefs and desires about those representations.
Semantic Intentionality: This refers to how a word or a symbol represents a concept or an aspect of the world.
Emergent Intentionality: This is the idea that intentionality arises from the interactions of interconnected mental states, and not from any individual state on its own.
Social Intentionality: This form of intentionality refers to how people in social contexts can direct their thoughts and actions towards each other, through language and gesture.
Collective Intentionality: This is the ability of a group to have a shared intention, which directs the group's actions towards a common goal.
Narrative Intentionality: This type of intentionality concerns how our experiences and thoughts are organized into coherent narratives or stories.
Higher-Order Intentionality: This form of intentionality concerns the mind's ability to reflect on its own mental states and to represent those states to itself.
Teleological Intentionality: This refers to the mind's ability to direct its actions towards goals or ends, and to have desires or intentions that are directed towards those ends.
Biological Intentionality: This is the type of intentionality that arises in biological systems, such as plants and animals, which have innate behaviors and adaptations that are directed towards environmental stimuli.
- "Intentionality is primarily ascribed to mental states, like perceptions, beliefs or desires."
- "Intentionality is primarily ascribed to mental states, which is why it has been regarded as the characteristic mark of the mental."
- "A central issue for theories of intentionality has been the problem of intentional inexistence: to determine the ontological status of the entities which are the objects of intentional states."
- "An early theory of intentionality is associated with Anselm of Canterbury's ontological argument for the existence of God."
- "...with his tenets distinguishing between objects that exist in the understanding and objects that exist in reality."
- "The idea fell out of discussion with the end of the medieval scholastic period."
- "In recent times, it was resurrected by empirical psychologist Franz Brentano."
- "...adopted by contemporary phenomenological philosopher Edmund Husserl."
- "Today, intentionality is a live concern among philosophers of mind and language."
- "A common dispute is between naturalism and the phenomenal intentionality theory."
- "Naturalism, the view that intentional properties are reducible to natural properties as studied by the natural sciences."
- "The phenomenal intentionality theory, the view that intentionality is grounded in consciousness."
- "Intentionality is the power of minds to be about something: to represent or to stand for things, properties and states of affairs."
- "To determine the ontological status of the entities which are the objects of intentional states."
- "Intentionality is primarily ascribed to mental states, like perceptions, beliefs or desires."
- "Intentionality is associated with Anselm of Canterbury's ontological argument for the existence of God."
- "The phenomenal intentionality theory, the view that intentionality is grounded in consciousness."
- "It has been regarded as the characteristic mark of the mental by many philosophers."
- "The problem of intentional inexistence: to determine the ontological status of the entities which are the objects of intentional states."