In this thesis I intend to provide a critical assessment of the Theory of Intentionality. The term intentionality is of medieval Scholastic origin. It was rehabilitated by the philosopher Franz Brentano and later adopted by Edmund Husserl. Intentionality is a central topic in the philosophy of mind in general, and in Husserl’s phenomenology in particular. It lies at the heart of Husserl’s philosophy. To a great extent, Husserl’s theory of intentionality is the same as his phenomenology. Phenomenology deals with our experiences. It studies how we experience things as individuals. The core structure of any experience is intentionality. According to Husserl, the essence of consciousness is intentionality. A chief problem of intentionality, briefly …show more content…
(C) Significance of the Research As a discipline, phenomenology has been central to the tradition of continental European philosophy in the 20th century. Husserl’s phenomenology has been formulated around the concept of intentionality. He has spent more than forty years examining the concept. Intentionality itself has played a fundamental role in analytic philosophy in general and in phenomenology in particular (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/intentionality/). Intentionality is significant as it enables phenomenologists to work on the relation between that which is within consciousness and that which is transcendent or extends beyond it. (D) Statement of the Problem (hypothesis) The purpose of this thesis will be to tackle some questions such as: -Are there intentional …show more content…
-How can distinct beliefs be about one and the same object? -How does the mental relate to the physical, i.e., how are mental states related to an individual's body, to states of the brain, to behavior and states of affairs in the world? 2- Description of the Study: My thesis will be divided into five distinct chapters. The first chapter will discuss Husserl’s phenomenology and its importance. Chapters two and three will deal with Husserl’s concept of intentionality and the relationship between consciousness and intentionality. This chapter will also touch upon Heidegger’s critique of intentionality. In Chapter 4, I will focus on the mind-body duality for Husserl. And Chapter 5 will seek to find out the possibility of naturalizing intentionality. In this study, as primary sources, I will use The Shorter Logical Investigations by Edmund Husserl, History of the Concept of Time by Martin Heidegger, Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint by Franz Brentano, The Conscious Mind by David Chalmers. I will be complementing my research using secondary sources including but not limited to The Cambridge Companion to Husserl, The Essential Husserl and Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 3- Literature