Single Idea 6491

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

Full Idea

By Berkeley - with his anti-abstractionism and imagist theory of thought - the classical sense-datum conception was firmly established, and intentionality had disappeared as an intrinsic property, not only of perceptual states, but of all mental contents.

Clarification

His 'anti-abstractionism' is his denial of universals

Gist of Idea

Berkeley replaced intentionality with an anti-abstractionist imagist theory of thought

Source

report of George Berkeley (The Principles of Human Knowledge [1710]) by Howard Robinson - Perception 1.6

Book Reference

Robinson,Howard: 'Perception' [Routledge 2001], p.19


A Reaction

Intentionality was originally a medieval concept, and was revived by Brentano in the late nineteenth century. Nowadays intentionality is taken for granted, but I still suspect that we could drop it, and talk of nothing but brain states caused by reality.