Mental states and propositional attitudes: philosophical approaches to folk psychology

Author(s)

Guilherme Sanches de Oliveira

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2014-05-23

Examining board members

Osvaldo Frota Pessoa Junior; Jose Lino Oliveira Bueno; Caetano Ernesto Plastino

• Advisor: Osvaldo Frota Pessoa Junior

Abstract

The philosophical literature on Folk Psychology began in the 1970s, and encompasses various questions about our everyday interpersonal understanding, our ability to interact and coordinate activities, the intuitive conceptual framework that relates mental states and propositional attitudes to behaviors, and the cognitive mechanisms of mindreading that allow us to attribute mental states to other people. In this thesis I examine the historical development of this literature, identifying two distinct debates, the first (mainly between Paul Churchland and Jerry Fodor from the 70s to the 90s) focusing on the relationship between the theory of Folk Psychology and scientific theories (in neuroscience and cognitive science), and the second (the contemporary debate) focusing on the cognitive mechanisms of mindreading and the role played by attributions of mental states and propositional attitudes in theories of embodied, situated and extended cognition. In addition to the historical examination of what I argue are two distinct debates as well as of the conceptual transition between them, here I present my criticism of Matthew Ratcliffe\'s contemporary eliminativist approach and, as an alternative to it, I articulate the principles of a pluralistic approach that combines both mindreading and situated contextual interpretation as fundamental for social cognition (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/16057-6 - Mental States and Propositional Attitudes: Philosophical Approaches to Folk Psychology
• Grantee: Guilherme Sanches de Oliveira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master