Intentionality and Naturalism

Abstract

The first part of the thesis will attempt to define naturalism by identifying the types of beliefs that naturalism commits a person to holding. Because there are disagreements about what naturalism is or includes, the paper will attempt to define naturalism by its most basic components. Additionally, it will attempt to combine methodological naturalism with a substantive, physicalist definition of naturalism. The second part of the thesis will discuss the implications of this type of naturalism for humans’ construal of the world in terms of whether it can be compatible with intentionality in philosophy of mind. Supervenience, grounding and reduction will be put forward as possible ways to naturalize intentionality. The thesis will argue that reduction is the only thing strong enough to naturalize intentionality. Lastly, dispositionalism as type of brain states theory will be put forward as a possible way to make the two compatible.