The Intentional Stance (Bradford Books)


Product Description
How are we able to understand and anticipate each other in everyday life, in our
daily interactions? Through the use of such "folk" concepts as belief, desire, intention, and
expectation, asserts Daniel Dennett in this first full-scale presentation of a theory of
intentionality that he has been developing for almost twenty years. We adopt a stance, he argues, a
predictive strategy of interpretation that presupposes the rationality of the people - or other
entities - we are hoping to understand and predict.These principles of radical interpretation have
far-reaching implications for the metaphysical and scientific status of the processes referred to by
the everday terms of folk psychology and their corresponding terms in cognitive science.While
Dennett's philosophical stance has been steadfast over the years, his views have undergone
successive enrichments, refinements, and extensions. The Intentional Stance brings together both
previously published and original material: four of the book's ten chapters - its first and the
final three - appear here for the first time and push the theory into surprising new territory. The
remaining six were published earlier in the 1980s but were not easily accessible; each is followed
by a reflection - an essay reconsidering and extending the claims of the earlier work. These
reflections and the new chapters represent the vanguard of Dennett's thought. They reveal fresh
lines of inquiry into fundamental issues in psychology, artificial intelligence, and evolutionary
theory as well as traditional issues in the philosophy of mind.Daniel C. Dennett is Distinguished
Arts and Sciences Professor at Tufts University and the author of Brainstorms and Elbow Room. The
Intentional Stance, along with these works, is a Bradford Book.
The Intentional Stance (Bradford Books) Review
Anybody who wants to seriously wrestle with Dennett's thought on consciousness needs to start here, then move to "Consciousness Explained," and from there to "Freedom Evolves." (It is an update of "Elbow Room," which means that can be skipped. And, although it has some germs of Dennett's thought, "Brainstorms" can also be bypassed.)Does one have to have a philosophy course touching on intentionality before reading this book? No, not if one is well-enough read in philosophy, psychology or sociology in general to grasp the background of Dennett's ideas.
I rate this a star higher than most of Dennett's later work primarily because it is more introductory, and so we see less of Dennett tripping himself up or avoiding some of the logical conclusions of his speculations.
That said, Dennett is never dull or boring; agree or disagree, he will stimulate your thought.
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