Intentionality and myths of the given : between pragmatism and phenomenology

Intentionality is one of the central problems of modern philosophy. How can a thought, action or belief be about something? Sachs draws on the work of Wilfrid Sellars, C I Lewis and Maurice Merleau-Ponty to build a new theory of intentionality that solves many of the problems faced by traditional conceptions. The hallmark of the theory is a distinction between "discursive intentionality" (the intentionality of propositional thought and talk) and "somatic intentionality" (the intentionality of bodily perception and action). Doing so sheds new light on Sellars's influential arguments concerning the 'Myth of the Given' and shows how we can build a productive discourse between American pragmatism, analytical philosophy and European phenomenology.