Greg Detre
22/2/00
Dennett � �design stance� � is this: deducing the way it works from the way it looks???
or the fact that someone has designed it to wake him up or that something has evolved through natural selection and so is likely to exhibit certain characteristics
or assuming that we know about it because it resembles something else that we do know about
intentional stance � treating everything as agents with intention, ascribing (predictable) information-modulated reasons/reasoning being applied to reach a goal (of its own) being sought��������� (no matter how it�s been designed)
ignores whether the goals are natural/artificial/�really appreciated�
any relevance of the intentionalty � purpose of mind is to create future to make it easier for the body to exist within its environment and survive � it�s integral to the way that mind works that it needs body
mind: representations becoming more abstract, arbitrary and manipulable and powerful
that why�s consciousness and mind have evolved � add a dimension to decision-making
mind: forum for the (reflexive) processing of representations of the physical world
suddenly a zombie (a metabolising corpse (complete with electrical signals? � yes)) with mind (representation-processing) seems just like an advanced animal which can draw patterns in the sand (only the sand is cellular; in a similar way, the lines on the beach are just arrangements of the many, many grans (= the (weighted) neuron connections))
if (as in the Meno) it�s part and parcel of rationality to desire what is (perhaps mistakenly) perceived as good � but people do sometimes, irrationally maybe, desire evil
e.g. copying mp3s, when you know it�s wrong
there can be no intentionality in an absolute conception of reality!
is that true???
philosophical intentionality = embodying information about something, which is what Dennett means by �aboutness�? - yes