more from Richard Rorty

Single Idea 2554

[catalogued under 15. Nature of Minds / B. Features of Minds / 4. Intentionality / b. Intentionality theories]

Full Idea

Following Wittgenstein, we shall treat the intentional as merely a subspecies of the functional.

Gist of Idea

Is intentionality a special sort of function?

Source

Richard Rorty (Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature [1980], 1.3)

Book Reference

Rorty,Richard: 'Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature' [Blackwell 1980], p.32


A Reaction

Intriguing but obscure. Sounds wrong to me. The intentional refers to the content of thoughts, but function concerns their role. They have roles because they have content, so they can't be the same.