Single Idea 3986

[catalogued under 17. Mind and Body / B. Behaviourism / 3. Intentional Stance]

Full Idea

The 'intentional stance' is the tactic of interpreting an entity by adopting the presupposition that it is an approximation of the ideal of an optimally designed (i.e. rational) self-regarding agent.

Gist of Idea

The 'intentional stance' is a way of interpreting an entity by assuming it is rational and self-aware

Source

Daniel C. Dennett (Daniel Dennett on himself [1994], p.239)

Book Reference

'A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind', ed/tr. Guttenplan,Samuel [Blackwell 1995], p.239


A Reaction

This is Dennett's 'instrumentalism', a descendant of behaviourism, which strikes me as a pragmatist's evasion of the ontological problems of mind which should interest philosophers