Languages of Intentionality A Dialogue Between Two Traditions on Consciousness

Intentionality - the relationship between conscious states and their objects - is one of the most discussed topics in contemporary debates in philosophy of mind, cognitive neuroscience and the study of consciousness. Long a foundational concept in Phenomenology, it has also received considerable coverage in the writings of analytic philosophers. Languages of Intentionality is the first book to critically explore and synthesize the work of both traditions in a new analysis of the subject. Beginning with a historical discussion of the development of the term in the work of Continental thinkers in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the book considers the work of Brentano and Husserl and subsequent existentialist critiques. From there, the book explores how empirical-analytic philosophers took up the topic, drawn as they were to materialist and computer models of the mind. Finally reflecting on new insights from cognitive neuroscience that have broken down the traditional Phenomenological-analytic divide, the book presents a new 'hybrid' account of intentionality that will be a crucial work for scholars working on consciousness and the mind.

1. CurrentIssues and Debates on Intentionality \ 2. Beginnings of the Phenomenological Theory\ 3. Existentialist Critiques of Husserl's Theory \ 4. Language-Analytic Accountsand the New Empiricism \ 5. Computer Models and Functionalist Explanations \ 6.Criticisms of the Analytic-Empirical Approach \ 7. Extensions of the PhenomenologicalTheory \ 8. A Hybrid Project - the Best of Both Approaches \ Notes \Bibliography \ Index