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University of Missouri, St. Louis
Intentionality; Concept Splitting; Splitting Concepts; Degrees of Intentionality; Intentional Ascription; Concept Attribution; Psychological Content; Non-Linguistic; Animal; Language and Concepts
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Two Degrees Of Intentionality: Approaching The Ascription Of Psychological Content In Non-Linguistic Creatures, Michael Joseph Ferreira
Two Degrees Of Intentionality: Approaching The Ascription Of Psychological Content In Non-Linguistic Creatures, Michael Joseph Ferreira
Theses
We often include intentional (psychological) states in the explanation of complex non-human animal behavior. How, if possible, should we characterize intentionality in other species without trivializing our own? I aim to develop a strategy, compatible with intentional realism, for approaching the ascription of intentionality in non-linguistic species. One way to approach the question, one rehearsed in multiple contexts, is to question the conditions under which conceptual mental representations might obtain in non-linguistic species. I follow a similar, but less developed strategy. I argue, following some recent literature, that it is likely that concepts split into (at least) two kinds. If …