Ideas from 'Varieties of Meaning' by Ruth Garrett Millikan [2002], by Theme Structure

[found in 'Varieties of Meaning: Nicod lectures' by Millikan,Ruth Garrett [MIT 2006,0-262-63342-6]].

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18. Thought / C. Content / 11. Teleological Semantics
Biosemantics says content is useful mapping from a producer to a consumer system
                        Full Idea: Millikan's 'biosemantic' view is that representations stand midway between producer and consumer systems. The represented states of affairs (the content) maps onto the second system, and thus enable its proper function.
                        From: report of Ruth Garrett Millikan (Varieties of Meaning [2002]) by Peter Schulte - Mental Content 4.4
                        A reaction: These meets my standard objection to all functional theories (e.g. of mind), that observing relations and functions tells you nothing about what it actually is. Millikan seems to explain the role of content, but says nothing about its actual nature.