Naturalizing Phenomenal Intentionality
Marking the Mark of the Mental January 1, 2025 Andrea Pace Giannotta
Phenomenal intentionality theory holds that the aboutness of mental states arises from conscious experience. This view inherits two classic philosophical problems: skepticism about the external world and the difficulty of reconciling mind with nature. The author draws a parallel between this theory and Husserlian phenomenology, which faces the same challenges. By examining the temporal structure of phenomenal intentionality through phenomenology and combining it with panqualityism—a form of neutral monism—the author argues that phenomenal intentionality can be naturalized in a specific sense, offering a way out of both skepticism and the naturalism problem.