Single Idea 23803

[catalogued under 18. Thought / C. Content / 1. Content]

Full Idea

Dennett maintains that a system has states with representational content if we are able to predict its behaviour reliably and voluminously by adopting the intentional stance toward it.

Gist of Idea

States have content if we can predict them well by assuming intentionality

Source

report of Daniel C. Dennett (True Believers [1981]) by Peter Schulte - Mental Content 5

Book Reference

Schulte,Peter: 'Mental Content' [CUP 2023], p.44


A Reaction

Dennett himself seems happy to thereby attribute representational content to a chess-playing computer. This sounds like a test for content, rather than explaining what it is. Not promising, I think.