Probably my last message for a while, as I said. Thanks again for your help.
Subject: Re: [Fis] Mind, matter, meaning and information [body begins] Saturday, March 17, 2007, 2:24:37 PM, Stanley N. Salthe wrote: >>>>A mind is a user or processor of intentional information. >>> S: That is to say, it initiates finality. >> >>Perhaps, I don't think in these terms. > SS: Well, using 'intentionality' seems to me to implicitly use > finality. Consider {propensity {purpose}}. Intent is necessarilly > directional, and directionality is all that is left is the particular goal > is removed. OK, now I understand why we keep failing to connect. In philosophy of mind "intentionality" refers to the concept revived by Brentano, meaning "aboutness". It has nothing to do with intent except that, like all other mental phenomena, intent is intentional, i.e. there's some content, there must be something that you intend to do. I agree with Brentano that intentionality is "the mark of the mental", because everything that's mental is intentional, and everything that's physical is not. Intentionality is central to my thinking, so I don't think there's any point in continuing this particular exchange. If you'd like to start again on the basis of this revised understanding then I will respond, but otherwise I'll keep quiet for a while, as I said in my previous message, replying to John. I'm really sorry to have wasted your time by failing to allow for the fact that not everyone who's interested in information has a phil of mind perspective. -- Robin Faichney <http://www.robinfaichney.org/> [body ends] _______________________________________________ fis mailing list fis@listas.unizar.es http://webmail.unizar.es/mailman/listinfo/fis