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Intentionality

The power of minds to represent concepts (to be directed on or about), not to be confused with the standard definition of the word intent, which is directed thought and action. The concept has played a central role in analytical philosophy in the phenomenological tradition and the representation of mental states, and is closely dependent upon the formalities of self-descriptive language. Intentionality in philosophy of mind is distinct from intensionality, which is a purely semantic concept.

In the attempt to divorce intentionality from dualism in philosophy of mind, which would make it incompatible with natural science, three categories of scientific philosophy maintain a unification with intentionality is possible. These are eliminative materialism, Realism, and the Quinian double standard. In this latter category nothing is considered to actually be intentional, though the language of intentionality is indispensable.

Web Resources On Intentionality

Intentionality in SEP
Intentionality

Book Resources On Intentionality

Rational Animals: The Teleological Roots of Intentionality by Mark Okrent
Husserl, Intentionality and Cognitive Science by Hubert L. Dreyfus
Intentionality: An Essay in the Philosophy of Mind by John R. Searle

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